From: Randy Burge <burge@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: November 9, 2004 1:36:24 PM PST
To: Dewayne Hendricks <dewayne@xxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Foreign Grad Student Enrollment Declining in American
Universities
Foreign Grad Student Enrollment Declining in American Universities
Thirty-Six Percent Drop in First-Year Foreign Engineering Students
Reported
Increased global competition, changing visa policies and diminished
perceptions of the U.S. abroad have lead to an overall decline in
first-time
international graduate student enrollment, according to a survey from
the
Council of Graduate Schools (CGS). Overall enrollment decreased 6
percent
between 2003-2004, the third straight year of decline after a decade of
growth, survey results show.
First-time international graduate school enrollment fell 10 percent
between
2002 and fall 2003 and fell 8 percent the year before.
Results from the third survey in a trio of studies conducted by CGS
indicate
the U.S. may be slipping as a leader in higher education. Although the
numbers are distressing, CGS President Debra Stewart says, graduate
schools
are battling the declines by streamlining their admissions processes,
enhancing their use of technology, and forming important international
partnerships.
Highlights of the October 2004 survey include:
* 68 percent of responding graduateschools reported a decline in
first-time
international graduate studentenrollment;
* First-time enrollment decreasedby 8 percent in China and by 4
percent in
India;
* First-time enrollment decreased10 percent in life sciences and
agriculture
and 8 percent in engineering;
* Physical sciences, the onlyfield to show a rise in first-time
enrollment,
increased 6 percent; and,
* Public institutions and researchintensive universities faced the
largest
decline, 12 percent each, whileinternational enrollment in private
institutions decreased only 3 percent.
In the fall of 2003, CGS discovered a 47 percent decline in
international
enrollments for fall compared to the previous year, prompting them to
launch
a three-part survey to gather data on applications, admits and
enrollment.
The first part indicated that international graduate applications
through
February 2004 decreased by 32 percent. A significant decrease in
applications was reported from China, India and Taiwan, specifically in
engineering and the sciences.
The second part, administered in June 2004, was designed to ascertain
the
relationship between applications and to determine the initiatives
being
taken by schools to counter the declines. Approximately 88 percent of
responding institutions reported a decrease in international
applications,
with programs in life sciences reporting declines averaging 20 percent.
Engineering saw the largest drop with applications declining by 36
percent
between 2003-2004. In response to the findings, graduate schools
reported
instituting policy changes to address the admissions process.
CGS notes that first-year declines also must be viewed in the context
of
overall patterns of graduate enrollment. Other related factors such as
economic and labor market cycles may also be driving the enrollment
patterns. Another three-part survey will be conducted over the next
three
years to further evaluate the trends. Complete survey results are
available
at: http://www.cgsnet.org <http://www.cgsnet.org/>
From:
SSTI Weekly Digest
A Publication of the State Science and Technology Institute
SSTI, 5015 Pine Creek Drive, Westerville, Ohio 43081
Phone: (614) 901-1690 http://www.ssti.org