Harvard summer school students moved in last weekend, their ranks thinner than last years class by roughly 300, a decline officials chalked up to difficulties facing international students.

According to Christopher Queen, dean of students for the Division of Continuing Education, SARS-related concerns as well as post-Sept. 11 visa difficulties contributed significantly to the drop in numbers.

A waiting period policy—recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and required by the University—that stipulates that travelers from SARS-affected countries cannot arrive at Harvard until ten days have passed since their departure, has discouraged some foreign students from attending the program.

“We knew that with the SARS epidemic...families who knew that they could not afford lodging [during the ten days], from China, Taiwan, Singapore, and Hong Kong, may not have decided to enroll in the Summer School,” Queen said.

According to Queen, the SARS epidemic has “certainly affected student enrollment from Chinese-related countries,” which usually have a strong showing in the Summer School program.

Last year, 168 summer students came from China, Taiwan and Singapore—second only to Brazil, which sent 186 students.

Queen said another problem has been the slowness with which international embassies and consulates have been issuing student visas.

“We’ve heard from many, many students that the process has been slowing down because of national security issues,” Queen said.

One girl from Seoul, South Korea encountered a multitude of problems because she only received a tourist visa from the government, despite having registered for full-time enrollment at the Summer School.

Upon arriving in Detroit, she was sent back to Seoul for lacking a student visa, but could not initially obtain one because American customs officials had confiscated her I-20 form, which is required in exchange, Queen said.

“The American Homeland Security measures may have affected our enrollment and that of other universities who run summer schools,” Queen said.

Nonetheless, Queen said the South Korean student will arrive on Monday.

Queen said this year’s summer school entryways house seven to 20 people, instead of 10 to 25.

But he does not think the smaller population will hurt the program, since it improves the faculty-student ratio.

Queen said that otherwise, move-in weekend was “completely trouble-free” in spite of heavy rain.

“Normally we have students who are surprised that Harvard doesn’t have lavish accomodations—carpeting in rooms, air conditioning and so on,” he said.

“The lines were not long and people were very cooperative,” Queen added.

—Staff writer Ryan J. Kuo can be reached at kuo@fas.harvard.edu.