He said the students he has counseled are being urged by parents in the Middle East to return home.

“Their parents have been influenced by the media, and they’re obviously seeing media different from the media in the U.S.” Klinger said.

Sedmak also said that American University students’ are deciding for themselves—independent of the university’s atmosphere—about whether to leave the U.S.

“The student response has nothing to do with the university climate. Tomorrow, for instance, we’re holding a large Muslim prayer service that’s expected to attract about 500 people,” Sedmak said.

At the University of Missouri, spokesperson Christian Basi said that on a list of reasons for withdrawal given to school officials by students, safety concerns expressed by students themselves rank of least importance.

Instead, Basi said students have cited family pressures, as well as some students’ inability to concentrate on studies while dealing with the emotional aftermath of the attacks, as their reasons for departing.

School officials from California State University, the University of Missouri, American University and the University of Toledo all said that the increased numbers of students on leaves of absence is temporary.

According to Basi, all of the students who left the University of Missouri havesaid they plan to return to the campus in January. American University spokesperson Sedmak said the students on leave have all completed coursework from past terms, and that they are prepared to return in the spring.