Washington -- One of the greatest challenges
for foreign students wishing to study in the United States
is cost, but unless a student has excellent qualifications,
proficiency in English and an original, honest and thoughtful
application essay, he or she will likely not get a scholarship
from a U.S. university, says educator Philip G. Altbach.
Scholarship funds are limited -- not just
for international students but for U.S. students as well
-- and hard to get, Altbach said in a November 7 USINFO
Webchat.
Altbach is the director of Boston College’s
Center for International Higher Education and professor
of higher education at the college’s Lynch School
of Education.
He said he agrees that the English language
proficiency test -- known as TOEFL (test of English as a
foreign language) -- is too expensive and often not conveniently
located in some countries, but added that such a test is
necessary for all students from abroad, even for short or
summer courses of study.
Nearly 600,000 international students are
studying in U.S. universities, and although there are students
from other nations in all fields of study in the United
States, the largest numbers are in business management and
engineering programs, Altbach said. Most foreign students
in the United States are studying at the graduate level
-- for master’s or doctorate degrees, but there are
some undergraduates working toward a bachelor’s degree,
he added. (See related article.)
Despite the challenges to studying in the
United States, the number of foreign students will continue
to rise because the United States “is a destination
that is desired by many in other countries,” according
to Altbach.
The United States welcomes increasing numbers
of international students and is working to find new opportunities
for first-rate but financially disadvantaged students to
attend U.S. colleges and universities, a State Department
official told a congressional hearing in June.
Thomas Farrell, deputy assistant secretary
for academic programs in the Bureau of Educational and Cultural
Affairs, told a House of Representatives subcommittee June
29 that 78 percent of international students rely on their
families and personal resources to attend schools in the
United States. (See related article.)
Although the U.S. higher education system
is stable and institutions tend to change slowly, Altbach
said in the webchat, there have been some important changes
that continue to make studying in the United States desirable
for many people. For example, because universities report
on the effectiveness of their various programs, they are
paying greater attention to teaching and student learning
outcomes.
Altbach said distance learning is a small
but growing part of U.S. education that might be an alternative
for foreign students unable to travel to the United States.
Many universities offer online degrees, particularly in
such fields as information technology and business management,
he said.
But he cautioned that one needs to check
the credentials of a particular provider of the distance
degree program because “there is no really good monitoring
of quality of such programs.” He said that distance
learning programs are expanding rapidly, but “it is
‘buyer beware.’”
Altbach said students also should check
that a university they wish to enroll in is an accredited
institution of learning, which means a school whose standards
have been certified by one of the recognized accrediting
institutions. “A degree from an unaccredited university
is not worth anything,” he said.
A database
of accredited postsecondary institutions and programs
is available on the U.S. Department of Education Web site.
More information
on resources for students interested in studying in
the United States is available on the State Department’s
EducationUSA Web site.
A transcript
of Altbach's discussion and information on previous
and upcoming webchats are available on USINFO's
Webchat
Station.
For additional information, see the eJournal
USA College
and University Education in the United States.
Carolee Walker
USINFO Staff Writer
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