It was just one seemingly innocent word -- "chemistry."

But sharing it with a U.S. government official cost Chinese doctoral student Li Gao an entire semester of her studies at Duquesne University.

	Tony Tye, Post-Gazette Delays in getting a renewal of her student visa forced Li Gao, a Chinese doctoral student at Duquesne University, to miss a semester of classes last year. Click photo for larger image. Related information Loss of foreign students Enrollment of foreign students in area schools

She had gone to the U.S. Embassy in Beijing in August 2003 to be interviewed about renewing her student visa for fall study. She didn't realize that in security-conscious America, simply having picked a hard science could trigger an agonizingly long security delay -- in her case three months.

"When he saw my major was chemistry, he said, 'We need to check your background,' " recalled Gao, who didn't receive clearance to return to America until December, too late for fall classes. "I kept calling. I was very worried."

A report being released today says the number of foreign students in America is down by roughly 2 percent, the first overall decline since 1972. Citing trouble like Gao's, some educators say they aren't surprised.

Visa restrictions in the post-Sept. 11, 2001, world and a perception among some foreigners that they are less welcome have kept some at home, the educators contend. And they say other students may be choosing different English-speaking countries with less restrictive rules.

The count by the Institute of International Education found 572,509 students here during the 2003-04 academic year, compared with 586,323 the previous year. The New York City-based organization queried 2,700 colleges and universities nationwide.

The losses included 9 percent fewer students from the Middle East, the second consecutive decline for the region following a 10 percent drop the prior year. Europe and Asia also sent fewer students, as did 14 of the 20 countries that send the most students here.

But the losses were partly offset by India, the largest exporter of students to America. It posted a 7 percent gain.

China, which sends the second largest number of students to America, was off by 5 percent. Other large losses included Indonesia, down 15 percent; Japan and Thailand, both down by roughly 11 percent; and Hong Kong, down 9 percent.

Institute officials say they hope that recent governmental efforts to curb visa delays may reverse the tide. Still, they said, the numbers were perplexing.

"Very clearly, it's a problem that we need to be concerned with," said Peggy Blumenthal, the institute's vice president for educational services. "We don't know yet if this is going to be a longer term slide, or the short-term result of Sept. 11 and subsequent visa problems."

Institute officials and college educators acknowledged the need to tighten the nation's borders given the threat of terrorism. But they also cited the importance of international students as a $13-billion industry that strengthens America's image around the world.

The presence of foreign students also gives Americans who don't study abroad a better feel for the global economy in which they will work, Blumenthal said. And it breaks down false impressions among foreigners about the way Americans think.

"America gets its best chance to explain itself, and helps future leaders of the world understand it, by having foreign students here to interact with Americans," Blumenthal said.

Nationwide, undergraduates from other countries slipped by 5 percent, but that was partly offset by a 2.5 increase in graduate students, the institute found. The 25 research universities with the largest numbers of international students on average saw declines, Blumenthal said.

In Pennsylvania, some educators had warned for months about a downturn and its potential impact in the classroom and on scientific research. Some experts say other English-speaking countries are wooing students turned off by the delays.

Joe DeCrosta, Duquesne's associate director of international affairs, says that when he travels to college fairs in places such as Asia, he increasingly sees competitors from Britain, Australia and Canada.

"I think they see an open window," he said.

Getting Chinese students the necessary approvals has long been challenging.

"It's always been the case that you have to go through a pretty rigorous process," DeCrosta said.

But the hurdles facing students there and in other countries have grown. Some students, including men from Muslim countries, have been fingerprinted and subjected to special security interviews. And students now must pay the government a $100 fee to cover the expenses of an electronic database that was developed to keep track of them.

That said, the State Department remains committed to "secure borders and open doors" and has taken steps of late that actually have increased the number of visas issued, said Angela Aggeler, a spokeswoman for the department's bureau of consular affairs.

"We've made every effort to turn a corner," she said. "We want foreign students. We recognize the importance of that."

Students in the hard sciences, including chemistry, have long faced extra security screenings by government officials intent on avoiding theft of sensitive information, Blumenthal said.

After the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, delays in processing visas significantly increased, though Aggeler says that problem has been rectified.

"We're not seeing those three-month, six-month delays," she said.

The institute is a major international exchange organization whose annual census is supported by the State Department.

In the coming days, a report is due out on the number of Americans studying abroad, something that has risen steadily in recent years despite terrorism fears.

In the Pittsburgh area, schools with large concentrations of foreign students experienced declines, with some exceptions. The University of Pittsburgh, for instance, saw foreign enrollment on its main campus rise by three students, to 1,734, a gain of less than 1 percent.

Carnegie Mellon University saw a 2 percent decline, to 2,493 students, and Duquesne University slipped by slightly more than 7 percent, to 515 students, the institute reported.

Foreign enrollment at La Roche College fell by 24 percent, to 254 students. But that decline resulted largely from its decision in 2002 to limit enrollment in its Pacem in Terris program to students for whom financial sponsorship has been secured, said Ken Service, vice president for institutional relations.