US: Graduate Schools Again Admit More International Students, but Total Still Lags From 2003

[Harold Schiffman]

 http://chronicle.com/daily/2007/08/2007082802n.htm

________________________________


Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Graduate Schools Again Admit More International Students, but Total
Still Lags From 2003

By ELIZABETH QUILL



The number of foreign students who received admissions offers from
American graduate schools rose in 2007 for the third straight year,
according to survey results scheduled for release today by the Council
of Graduate Schools. This year's 8-percent increase is less than last
year's 12-percent gain (The Chronicle, September 1, 2006), but is
still expected to contribute to the gradual recovery in the number of
international students at American colleges and universities, which
dropped sharply in 2004.

In addition, the latest findings, from the second phase of the
council's three-part annual survey, showed that almost 30 percent of
American graduate schools had established joint- or dual-degree
programs with international universities, and that almost 25 percent
planned to establish such collaborative degrees in the future.

"Institutions are aware of the increase in competition for
international students," said Kenneth E. Redd, director of research
and public analysis at the council and principal author of a report
based on the survey. "The fact that we have a large share of
respondents who have these programs, at the same time that we know the
international admissions offers are rising, is an indication that
universities are trying to remain attractive to international
students."

The report, "Findings From the 2007 CGS International Graduate
Admissions Survey, Phase II: Final Applications and Initial Offers of
Admission," also noted a 9-percent increase in applications from
international students this year. That figure updates an initial
finding of an 8-percent increase in applications in Phase I of the
survey, released in April (The Chronicle, April 16).

Despite three years of gains, however, international applications are
still below their 2003 levels at many graduate schools, the report
says, and the number of international students admitted is still 1
percent less than it was four years ago.

The rate of increase in admissions this year varied according to a
number of factors, including field of study, country of origin, and
the size of the institution's international population. For example,
the rate of increase in admissions at the 10 institutions with the
largest international graduate enrollments was 2 percent, while the
number of applications grew 11 percent. Admissions offers increased 13
percent at institutions outside the largest 50, while applications
increased 7 percent.

For the first time, the council asked graduate schools about their
partnerships with international colleges and universities. Of those
surveyed, 29 percent reported that they had established collaborative
degree programs.

Debra W. Stewart, president of the council, said universities can no
longer anticipate an unending flow of international students.

"The good news in this report, from my point of view, is that for the
first time we have been able to document a very robust set of
activities around international collaborations in graduate programs,"
she said. "We are opening up to new and creative partnerships."

According to the survey, the largest portion of collaborative degree
programs are with European universities, though programs have also
been established with China, India, and other countries. By
discipline, the programs are most common in the fields of business and
engineering, and they are more common at the master's level than the
Ph.D. level.

The survey is based on data from 160 of the council's member schools,
including nine of the 10 institutions with the largest enrollments of
international graduate students. The final phase of this year's
survey, which will include actual enrollment figures, is expected to
be released in November.




=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+

Harold F. Schiffman


Phone:  (215) 898-7475
Fax:  (215) 573-2138

Email:  haroldfs at gmail.com
http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/

-------------------------------------------------