Foreign-student applications to American graduate schools are up 9 percent over last year, with much of the increase fueled by a double-digit expansion in applications from prospective Chinese students, according to a report released today by the Council of Graduate Schools.
Applications from India and South Korea, meanwhile, saw renewed growth after stagnating last year. The three countries send the largest numbers of international students to the United States.
The report’s author, Nathan E. Bell, called the findings “encouraging,” saying they suggest continued strong interest around the world in American graduate education, despite increased global competition for top students. Application figures tend to overstate actual enrollment trends because prospective students may apply to multiple universities, but Mr. Bell, who is director of research and policy analysis at the graduate-schools group, said he expects international enrollments this fall to climb between 3 and 6 percent.
Foreign-student enrollments grew 3 percent in fall 2010.
Particularly heartening are larger numbers of applicants this spring from India and South Korea, Mr. Bell said. Applications from potential Indian students are up 7 percent. Last year, applications from India held steady, increasing just 1 percent, after declining by 12 percent the previous year.
Likewise, the number of applications from South Korea were flat in 2010 and fell 9 percent in 2009, during the height of the global recession. This year, Korean applications rose 2 percent.
Chinese applications continue to expand robustly, increasing 18 percent this year. This is the sixth consecutive year of double-digit growth in applications from China.
Applications from the Middle East and Turkey also rose, by 12 percent over 2010. The council tracks students collectively from that region because of its geopolitical importance.
Over all, three-quarters of American graduate programs reported an uptick in overseas applicants from last year to this. Some 230 institutions responded to the survey, which was conducted between late January and early March. Together, those universities account for about 60 percent of all international graduate students in the United States.
Both public and private universities experienced a surge in foreign applicants, of 9 percent and 11 percent respectively.
Application growth also occurred across institutions of varying sizes, although those that enroll more international students saw steeper increases. At the 10 graduate schools that award the largest number of degrees to international students, applications rose 12 percent, but those outside the 100 largest saw a 9-percent increase, on average. Differences in choice were more pronounced among Chinese students. Applications from China shot up 26 percent at the 10 largest schools but rose only 12 percent at those outside the top 100.
South Korean applications, however, increased more among institutions that graduate smaller numbers of international students.
Applications were up across the five most popular fields of study, with the largest gains, of 12 percent, in engineering and physical- and earth-sciences programs.
There was one downturn of note, Mr. Bell said: Applications to business schools at the 25 universities that enroll the greatest numbers of international students were down 4 percent. This dip could be a reflection of mounting global competition for business students, he said.
Business applications to all universities, however, increased 4 percent.
Jeffery C. Gibeling, a past chair of the council, said the growth in foreign applicants, despite continued economic uncertainty, is probably a reflection of more-creative recruiting strategies by American graduate schools. For example, the University of California at Davis, where he is dean of graduate studies, has been more aggressive in striking strategic partnerships with feeder universities abroad and with foreign governments—especially those that provide scholarships and stipends for overseas study.
Because the survey was administered early in the graduate-admissions cycle, its results should be considered preliminary and subject to slight revision when a second survey looks at final application numbers later this spring. It does not track trends in domestic-student applications.
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