Jing An, a medical student from China, makes friends at the University of Virginia. |
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Washington -- International graduate
enrollment at U.S. universities has grown substantially, increasing
7 percent from 2006 to 2007 -- the largest gain since 2002
-- according to a new study released November 5 by the Council
of Graduate Schools (CGS).
Under the U.S. educational system, graduate
students work toward master’s, doctoral or other advanced
degrees. The November 6 CGS study also reported that 87
percent of U.S. graduate school deans have participated
in some sort of international outreach activity in the past
two years, with almost half visiting foreign universities
to build partnerships.
CGS President Debra Stewart said it is “encouraging
to see graduate school deans taking such an active role
to recruit highly qualified international students.”
Total enrollment of students from India
and China -- the countries with the greatest number of students
in the United States -- rose 14 percent and 15 percent respectively,
according to the CGS study.
First-time enrollment of students from the
Middle East rose 12 percent, while total enrollment of students
from the Middle East rose 5 percent. Because graduate degrees
can take a long time to complete, increases in first-time
enrollment can take several years to be fully reflected
in total enrollment figures.
Enrollment figures for international graduate
students increased 1 percent in 2006, while first-time enrollment
figures were up 12 percent. The 7 percent gain reported
in 2007 was accompanied by a 4 percent increase in first-time
enrollment.
STATE DEPARMENT EAGER TO WELCOME INTERNATIONAL
STUDENTS
The State Department has taken a number
of steps to expedite the processing of student visa applications,
including adding new consular positions, negotiating extended
reciprocity agreements so that students are not required
to apply for visas as frequently, and directing U.S. embassies
and consulates to put student and exchange visitors at the
head of the queue when scheduling visa interviews. (See
related
article.)
The number of student and exchange visitor
visas issued in fiscal year 2006 rose 15 percent to an all-time
high of 591,050, according to the State Department.
The United States is eager to welcome more
international students and wants to provide more opportunities
for financially disadvantaged students to attend U.S. colleges
and universities, a State Department official told a congressional
hearing in June.
Rather than visas, the biggest challenge
for international students is the cost of higher education,
said Thomas Farrell, deputy assistant secretary for academic
programs in the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.
Currently, 78 percent of international students rely on
their families and personal resources, he said. Another
problem is lack of English language ability, particularly
among disadvantaged populations, Farrell told a House of
Representatives subcommittee hearing June 29.
It is “an important strategic priority
… to provide educational opportunities to a broad
and diverse segment of young people overseas, including
women, minorities and those from financially disadvantaged
backgrounds,” he said. (See related
article.)
In the 20th century, the United States became
an educator of the world, according to a 2006 report by
the National Science Foundation (NSF). Although international
students earned less than 10 percent of all doctorates awarded
in the United States in 1960, by 1999 they were earning
more than one-third of all doctorates in the fields of science
and engineering and 17 percent of doctorates in other fields,
according to the report U.S. Doctorates in the 20th
Century. (See related article.)
The CGS survey data have been confirmed
by research from the NSF, which in a report issued earlier
in 2007 found that first-time enrollment of foreign graduate
students in science and engineering fields began to rise
in 2005.
According to Open Doors 2006, a study by
the Institute of International Education, approximately
565,039 students came from around the world to study at
schools of higher education in the United States in 2006.
The leading country of origin was India, which sent 76,503
students, followed by China and the Republic of Korea, which
sent 62,582 and 58,847 students, respectively. (See related
article.)
As for the fields of study in which international
students enroll at the graduate level, total enrollment
in business rose 10 percent, engineering 8 percent, life
sciences and agriculture 3 percent, and arts and humanities
1 percent. There was no enrollment growth in physical and
earth sciences, and in education enrollment fell 2 percent,
according to CGS.
The CGS data are based on the responses
of 172 graduate schools, including 76 percent of the 25
institutions with the largest international student enrollments.
The 2007
CGS International Graduate Admissions Survey (PDF, 12
pages) is available on the CGS Web site.
For information on studying in the United
States, see the State Department’s EducationUSA
Web site. Information on visa procedures and traveling to
the United States is available at www.travel.state.gov
and in the State Department eJournal See
You in the U.S.A.
Jeffrey Thomas
USINFO Staff Writer
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