CORVALLIS (AP) — On the board of a classroom at Oregon State University recently, new international engineering students made two lists about what it’s like to study in the United States.

Under “hard,” they wrote: “homework,” “wake up at the morning” and “a lot of things to do and to read!”

The “easy” list was blank.

The students came to Oregon State this fall in the first wave of a push to double the number of foreign students in five years, lure $15 million more in tuition and add more international flavor to campus.

Foreign students are a growing source of cash and diversity for colleges and universities across the country at a time of tight budgets and pressure to prepare students for a global work force.

But it takes money, people and time to develop an international reputation and attract more foreign students.

That’s why Oregon State turned to an outside recruiter to find students and help them transition to American university life.

“The biggest disadvantage we have is, in some ways, the location,” said Sabah Randhawa, Oregon State’s provost and executive vice president. “Oregon ain’t exactly New York City or Chicago.”

Competition for international students is stiff, even as demand increases from India, China and other countries with a growing middle class, a high value for studying abroad and limited spots in their own universities.

At Oregon public universities, international students pay three times as much in tuition and fees as Oregon residents. At Oregon State, that adds up to $19,417 a year for undergraduate international students.

The number of international students at colleges and universities in the United States fell after visa regulations were tightened after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

But they bounced back and hit a record high of 623,805 students in 2007-08, according to the Open Doors report of the Institute of International Education, a nonprofit cultural and exchange organization.

Peggy Blumenthal, the institute’s executive vice president and chief operating officer, said she would be surprised if the numbers fall significantly this fall, despite the global recession.

Families still see international education as a major investment, so they take out loans and pool resources to send students abroad, Blumenthal said.

“The U.S higher education credential is still seen as enormously valuable credential in terms of their careers back home,” she said.

This fall, Oregon’s public universities expect the numbers to continue to climb from last year’s 4,410 students.

Some private colleges are also recruiting heavily abroad.

George Fox University, a 3,400-student Christian campus in Newberg, started recruiting students from China about five years ago and now has about 120 Chinese students.

The university is looking at Taiwan, South Korea and South America to expand its international reach, eventually taking up to about 200 international students.

“It’s certainly an educational process,” said Dale Seipp Jr., vice president of enrollment. “Most of them have never heard of George Fox University. Most of them don’t have a concept of Oregon.”

Doudou Li, a senior who transferred to George Fox from a Chinese university about two years ago, said she never considered studying in the United States until a teacher told her about George Fox.

“When they told me it was a Christian school, I didn’t know what Christian means,” she said.

At first, she thought it would be too expensive, but the university gave her a scholarship. Most Chinese students pay full price, but George Fox gives some undergraduate merit scholarships ranging from $7,000 to $15,000.

She wants to get a job in international business in the United States or China. She said she hopes her English skills will give her an edge over other applicants.

“My parents invested a lot of money in my education,” she said. “I think I should pay them back.”

Western Oregon University in Monmouth boosted its international enrollment from 59 students in 2005 to 305 last year, a little over half of them from China.

“Unfortunately because the state has been unable to really provide the level of support that it really should, we have had to look for other funding sources, whether it be out-of-state or international students,” said Dave McDonald, Western Oregon’s associate provost.

Portland State had nearly 1,700 international students last fall, the most of any campus in the state system, and wants to increase the number from 6.3 percent to 8 percent of enrollment over the next five years.

The University of Oregon expects to double new international student registration this fall.

Oregon State’s foundation invested $900,000 to team up with London-based INTO University Partnerships to recruit foreign students.

The university expects to break even next year and make a profit in the third year. That’s after paying INTO half the tuition (after expenses of running the program) in the student’s first year and about 10 percent commissions each year after that.

About 250 new students from 30 countries enrolled in the university this fall through the INTO Oregon State program and are getting support and instruction in a newly remodeled center on campus.

Chien Ming Chen, who goes by Jason, is a 27-year-old student from Taiwan who wants to get a doctorate in mechanical engineering at Oregon State.

He said he came to Corvallis nine months ago to improve his English and learn to work with people from other cultures, which he hopes to use in a job as a boss in a machine company or manufacturer in Taiwan.

“Sometimes you get bored, but it’s a good place for studying,” he said. “I like this program because you can make lots of friends.”