ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — International students are pouring into Minnesota colleges and universities faster than ever, and some are unfamiliar with American academic standards.

Some international students begin school without a clear understanding of plagiarism, leaving them susceptible to severe consequences if they’re caught, Minnesota Public Radio News (http://bit.ly/1tFwawi ) reported. Schools have different approaches in how they handle plagiarism, but the offense is punishable and potentially disastrous by U.S. college standards. Students who are caught plagiarizing can fail an assignment or class, receive a suspension or get kicked out of school entirely.

Although the number of international students who accidentally violate academic policy is relatively low, it’s rising alongside increasing international enrollment, according to college officials in the Twin Cities. Statewide international enrollment jumped by nearly 15 percent from fall 2009 to fall 2012.

There were about 13,200 international students enrolled in colleges and universities throughout Minnesota in the fall of 2012. At the University of St. Thomas, international students make up 4.8 percent of the student population of 10,229, said Lori Friedman, the director of international student services at the St. Paul school.

Many students from Eastern cultures are used to working in groups, which can conflict with American academic standards of working independently, according to Friedman.

“Plagiarism is a new word, intellectual property is a new word and idea,” she said. “What we might call cheating, they might call it sharing.”

Zizo Amro, a Saudi Arabian student at St. Thomas, copied a paragraph from a student paper he found online when he was scrambling to make a deadline. But he had no idea he was doing something wrong, he said.

“I swear I really didn’t know,” Amro said. “It’s a really small paragraph. I thought it wouldn’t make a difference.”

Instead of reporting him for plagiarism, Amro’s professor gave him a second chance to correct the mistake. However, some other students aren’t so lucky.

Now the University of St. Thomas and other colleges throughout the state are making an effort to help their international students better understand the concept of intellectual property and gravity of plagiarism. In addition to plagiarism education during orientation for international students, St. Thomas also hosts related events and provides resources, such as a writing center, to all of its students.