MANKATO — When Ludmi Herath launched her efforts to recruit students to Minnesota State University using a Facebook site, it became clear immediately that it would work well as a recruiting tool.

It also became clear how little some of them knew about Minnesota and Mankato. Some don’t even know Mankato has summer.

Many students who contact her ask basic questions about MSU, such as what the weather is like, or what kind of clothes they’ll need to bring.

“Most questions now are from people who have been accepted and are debating between MSU and another school,” Herath said.

The tool is working for the university. More students are taking notice and getting to know MSU. Which is nice, said Tom Gjersvig, who heads up international student efforts at MSU.

Used to be that Gjersvig wasn’t too excited to talk about enrollment numbers of international students at MSU. After the 9/11 terrorist attacks, security concerns caused international student numbers to plummet around the nation. On top of that, other countries noticed that weakness and ramped up their recruitment efforts.

But today, with the security scare mostly a thing of the past and with some creative recruiting techniques, MSU’s numbers are approaching all-time highs thanks to a changing political climate and innovative efforts such as Herath’s Facebook page.

Last fall 145 new international students came to MSU. This fall, Gjersvig estimates that number will be closer to 200.

The highest total enrollment for international students was 625 in 2002. With the current upswing in enrollment numbers, Gjersvig figures MSU will eclipse the 800 mark by 2010.

Gjersvig hired Herath last spring. Herath put much of her efforts into cyberspace.

Herath, who is from Sri Lanka, first began using her personal Facebook site to get the word out about MSU.

Facebook is a social networking site used heavily by college-age people. Students use such sites to communicate with each other. It is beyond e-mail, beyond cell phones.

“I have about 50 (potential students) that are chatting with me and looking at pictures,” Herath said. “If I send out an e-mail, they won’t read it. But if it’s on Facebook with pictures, they’ll read it. And all these students already have a Facebook account ... From my Facebook alone, I’ve recruited about 12 students.”

Herath also publishes a blog where she posts updates to international student news and MSU-specific news. She’s posted several videos on YouTube that show images focusing on the diversity at MSU, the idea being that if viewers see people who look like them, they’ll be more likely to come here.

Personal touches, she hopes, will make the difference and get students to come to Mankato.

“I want to be that somebody,” she said. “Instead of an e-mail address, I want to be a person they’ve talked to.”

Gjersvig said MSU also is focusing more on community colleges, which are seeing growing numbers of international students as well as growing numbers of so-called “new immigrants.”

“That’s been generating more interest in applications,” Gjersvig said.

MSU also has gotten some help from agents who help international students find an institution.

“We don’t enter into any agreement with them,” he said, “but we know from what we’re hearing that some of these agents are referring students to MSU because they know the students are having satisfactory experiences here, and they want satisfied customers.”

Other factors helping push MSU’s numbers upward include:

n The weakness of the U.S. dollar — While it may be a nightmare for students to study abroad, it makes it easier for international students to come here.

n The addition of doctoral programs — MSU has traditionally had high numbers of international students in its graduate programs, and the addition of the doctoral programs will only add to the appeal.