After flat-lining a year ago, the number of new international students in American graduate schools climbed 3 percent this fall, according to a report released today by the Council of Graduate Schools.
The latest figures should come as a relief to educators, after last year’s stagnant showing led to worries about the reliance of U.S. institutions on foreign talent at the graduate level.
“It’s a good thing to see strong international interest in our graduate programs,” said Patrick S. Osmer, chair-elect of the council’s board and vice provost for graduate studies at Ohio State University.
This fall’s increase is due to a sharp uptick in enrollments of Chinese students, as well as to somewhat smaller declines in enrollments of Indian and South Korean students. The three countries are the largest sources of overseas students.
Still, total international-student enrollment, including returning students, was up just 1 percent, the smallest increase since 2006. The modest growth is a reflection of last year’s sluggish new-enrollment figures.
The report, based on a survey of graduate schools conducted between September 9 and October 22, also showed distinct differences among institutions. At the 100 graduate schools with the most foreign students, international first-time enrollments increased 5 percent. At institutions outside the top 100, by comparison, enrollments were flat.
Nathan E. Bell, director of research and policy analysis at the council, says such disparities may reflect a greater investment of time and money in international recruiting on the part of some universities.
What’s more, many of the institutions in the top 100, says Mr. Bell, the report’s author, have “instant name recognition, globally.”
China Up, India Down
Private colleges also saw greater gains, of 8 percent, in first-time foreign enrollments than did their public counterparts, which experienced just a 1-percent increase. Mr. Bell said he wasn’t sure what accounted for the disparity.
Enrollments of Chinese students, however, were up across the board, regardless of institution size or type. The number of new students from China grew by 20 percent, the fifth year of double-digit increases. Total graduate enrollments from China rose 13 percent.
Enrollments from the Middle East and Turkey also climbed, by 7 percent among first-time students and 11 percent over all. The council tracks students from that region because of its strategic importance.
Meanwhile, the report suggests that the precipitous declines in enrollments from India and South Korea may have been halted. Collectively, the two countries, along with China, account for half of all international students at American graduate schools.
First-time enrollments of students from India fell by 3 percent, following a 16-percent drop in 2009. The number of new students from South Korea also decreased by 3 percent, after a 13-percent falloff the previous year.
Total graduate enrollments from both countries dipped 6 percent.
This year’s findings suggest a “stabilization” in enrollments from South Korea and India, Mr. Bell says.
“There’s a risk of overreacting” to short-term enrollment volatility, he says. Those swings may reflect factors such as the economic situation in sending countries and in the United States.
But there are longer-term, more systemic factors that could affect international enrollments, such as growing competition worldwide, increased capacity for graduate education in students’ home countries, and U.S. policies that may deter students from studying in this country.
Those trends bear watching because foreign students account for about 15.5 percent of all students at American graduate schools, according to the council. They account for a far larger share at some institutions and in certain degree programs.
Some 230 graduate schools responded to the survey, a 47-percent response rate. Among its other findings, the survey showed that international first-time graduate enrollment increased in all broad fields except education and life sciences.
The survey also queried respondents about their admissions policies for applicants with three-year bachelor’s degrees. European countries have moved to adopt three-year undergraduate degrees as part of a broader push to standardize higher education and increase student mobility, known as the Bologna Process.
The council found broad differences in admissions guidelines, but acceptance of the three-year degree appears to be increasing since the graduate schools’ group last polled its members on the issue, in 2006. That year 18 percent of those surveyed said they would not accept Bologna three-year degrees. This year only 13 percent of respondents said they did not accept three-year degrees from European universities.
However, twice as many institutions, 26 percent, said they did not recognize such degrees from non-European countries.
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