Vacation tourism may be the state’s lifeblood, but international students are increasingly doing their part to pump up the state’s economy.

Foreign students studying in Hawaii at colleges, secondary schools and trade schools spent $301.9 million in tuition, fees and living expenses in the 2015-16 academic year, 47 percent more than the $205.1 million they spent in the 12 months prior, according to the state’s 2016 Hawaii International Education Survey.

In 2009, the only other time the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism conducted the survey, total direct spending by international students was $165.4 million.

Kapiolani Community College has benefited from an influx of foreign students. Ten percent, or 776 of the 7,816 students at KCC last year, were from overseas. For the University of Hawaii system as a whole, 5 percent, or 2,715, were international students. UH has 55,756 students on 10 campuses.

International students at Brigham Young University-Hawaii accounted for 41 percent of its total enrollment in 2015-16, coming from 66 countries, while Chaminade University’s international student count was just 2 percent. Hawaii Pacific University counted 12 percent of its students as being from overseas in 2014-15 but is still finalizing its 2015-16 numbers. UH-Manoa had 1,274 international students in 2014-15.

Higher tuition

International students are an attractive source of revenue for public universities and colleges partly because they pay a higher tuition rate. At UH-Manoa the tuition rate that full-time nonresident students are paying this school year is capped at $16,452 a semester (at least 12 credits) compared with $5,436 per semester for full-time resident students. UH community colleges, with the exception of Maui College, are charging $340 per credit hour for nonresident students and $126 per credit hour for residents this year. There is no cap on the total tuition amount for the community colleges.

Due to the higher tuition for nonresidents, international students accounted for about 30 percent of the tuition and fees at KCC in the 2015-16 academic year and generated $17.2 million in total direct spending with a $35.4 million total economic impact on the Hawaii economy, according to the college’s Honda International Center 2015 economic report.

Joe Overton, chairman of the Paul S. Honda International Center at KCC, said former Chancellor Leon Richards, who left his position in May, was instrumental in attracting foreign students to the campus.

“Dr. Richards felt it was important for us to have a large number of international students to interact with our local students,” Overton said. “He felt our local students should have an opportunity to meet with and learn something from students from other cultures.”

Hee Jin Park, 30, came to Hawaii from South Korea in January 2015 because she wanted to improve her English skills to get a job as a nurse in Hawaii. She already earned a nursing degree in South Korea and said Hawaii was attractive to her because it offered a new experience in her field.

“Hawaii’s weather is so good for students because it’s not very changeable,” said Park, who plans to graduate from KCC in 2018. “The population has many kinds of races — so many Asians, Europeans and Americans. Many people are kind compared to other countries so it’s very comfortable for me. That’s why I chose to be a student in Hawaii.”

The Honda International Center, which was named for community leader and businessman Paul S. Honda in recognition of his support of international education, is set up exclusively for international students and offers counseling to help them deal with visas, housing and other necessities.

Overton said the KCC programs that are most attractive to international students are those that enable them to increase their proficiency in English, as well as courses in hospitality, culinary studies and health science.

Hawaii’s melting pot

At HPU, Idilia Seixas, 34, who plans to graduate in May, saw Hawaii as an attractive place to further her career in international relations after getting a bachelor’s degree in Brazil.

“I always wanted to work with international business,” said Seixas, who is interested in data analysis, network analysis and information technology management. “I wanted to study in one place with diversity like Hawaii. I think Hawaii offers good opportunities for those who really want to work and invest in their careers.”

DBEDT said its survey of international students varies from year to year because the number of schools responding differs each year. But DBEDT says the responding institutions likely represented the majority of international students because most of the schools that did not reply to the survey were either trade schools with a very low number of foreign students or institutions that have applied to host foreign students but have yet to enroll any. DBEDT conducted the online survey between December 2015 and April 2016 and received responses from 31, or 34.4 percent, of the 90 educational institutions contacted.

“The total amount of direct spending by international students in Hawaii highlights the value of cross-cultural exchanges and the economic contributions to our state,” DBEDT Director Luis Salaveria said in a statement.

The survey found for 2015-16 that international students generated $649 million in total economic output, including direct and indirect effects; supported 7,590 jobs; produced $256 million in household earnings; and generated $43 million in state taxes.

International students across all study programs in Hawaii spent an average of $24,760 for tuition, fees and living expenses in 2015-16, the survey said.

Japan, which is the state’s No. 1 international tourism market, accounted for the most international students in Hawaii in 2015-16 with 4,297, or 35.2 percent of all of the state’s foreign students.

“The best thing about having international students is what they bring to our state,” said Joanne Taira, senior executive for international and strategic initiatives for the UH system.

“This is a pretty isolated place in the world and the international students are just a real valuable part of the educational process. We’re a globalized economy in this day and age and there’s so much student mobility within and between Asian countries and the U.S. Having international students brings that exposure to global shifts.”

She said foreign students are attracted to UH and Hawaii because of UH’s reputation as a research university and its outstanding programs; the range of UH institutions from two-year colleges to Manoa; and the state’s multicultural mix, safety and quality of life.

Taira said UH-Manoa’s more popular majors among foreign students are business, second language studies, and hospitality and tourism.