[INTERVIEW] Florida Institute seeks more Korean students

Dwyane McCay, President of Florida Institute of Technology. / Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk

By Kim Hyun-bin

The Florida Institute of Technology (FIT) is aiming to increase the number of Korean students attending the U.S. university.
The institute has partnered with the International Education Exchange Association (IEEA) to help meet that goal.

"In the past, many Korean students received doctorate degrees at Florida Tech and they've done very well in school and in life. So we are here to recruit more Korean students," said Dwayne McCay, the president of FIT.

Last November, FIT and the IEEA signed a memorandum of understanding aiming to enhance education cooperation.
The first batch of 15 Korean students mostly majoring in aviation is scheduled to attend Florida Tech by next January.

FIT was established by NASA scientists in 1958 for the purpose of providing higher education and fostering scientists for NASA. Over five hundred graduates have worked for NASA so far. Now it is well known in the United States for various programs including its aviation curriculum, according to McCay.

"Competition and demand for pilots are enormous," said McCay. "They are in such high demand that many of our flight instructors are scouted by airlines before they fill the required flight hours, and a good percentage of them are recruited to become pilots after our program."

Not just for aviation majors, FIT has the highest percentage of graduates who immediately start their careers among the southern states, he added.

FIT has an undergraduate student body of 5,300 and among them 33 percent are international students.

"We are the most internationalized university in the United States. Our undergraduate student body is 33 percent international from 120 countries," said McCay. "Roughly a quarter of our faculty are also international; they have gone to universities in the United States from other countries. They can identify directly with new students coming in and are very focused on one-on-one understanding and identifying with the student."

He said the best attribute of the institution is the small teacher to student ratio, creating an atmosphere where the teachers get to know each student in person.

"We are a small school with a large faculty. The number of student to teaching faculty is Ivy League level, about 12 to one. Classes are small taught by professors that are full time academics," said McCay. "Students get individual attention from the professors and they will know you and your background as a person."

There are even scholarship programs for international students who if eligible, could receive up to half the tuition.
Full year tuition is estimated to cost a student around $37,000.

‘Depend on how well you perform. We use a company to evaluate various schools in different countries to put them on an even keel. High school in Singapore, Beijing and Seoul might not be the same. Depending on how well you did in school and how good the school is, there are a range of scholarships available," said McCay.

When asked about starting a second language at a young age, McCay believes there is a big difference in a child's linguistic level when starting early on.

"Incredibly effective, I have good friends whose parents speak native at home and English in school. They are completely fluent in both. We all know language is best learnt as a small child. The sooner you start is better, by far the best way."

Dwayne McCay was formally installed as the fifth president of FIT in September 2016.

After receiving his PhD from Auburn University in 1974, McCay worked in various fields including vice president for research and information technology at the University of Tennessee as well as chief of the Propulsion Division at the NASA George C. Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama.

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