International Graduate Student Numbers Increase
By Wendi Maloney and Leigh A. Neithardt
First-time enrollment of international students in U.S. graduate institutions increased 12 percent between 2005 and 2006, and total enrollment rose by 1 percent after three consecutive years of decline, according to the Council of Graduate Schools (CGS). The council began an extensive multiyear survey of international graduate admissions and enrollment in 2004 in response to concern among its member institutions about the sharp decline in enrollment of international students in U.S. graduate programs following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.
The CGS cites “notable increases” in first-time enrollment of students from India (32 percent) and China (20 percent), the two countries that typically send the most international students to the United States. Driven by this rise in first-time enrollment, total enrollment from India rose by 8 percent over last year. Total enrollment from China, however, decreased by 2 percent. The CGS explains that changes in total enrollment often lag behind changes in first-time enrollment because of the time required to complete a graduate degree. Among students from the Middle East, first-time enrollment decreased by 1 percent, while total enrollment rose by the same percentage.
Among fields of study, engineering saw the highest increase in first-time and total enrollment, followed by business. Total enrollment declined in physics, and both first-time and total enrollment dropped in the humanities. “These findings confirm that there has been a recovery in international graduate student flows to the United States,” says CGS president Debra Stewart. “The increases reflect positively on both U.S. government policy changes and the outreach efforts of graduate schools. Maintaining our leadership in research and innovation rests in part on welcoming the most highly qualified international students to U.S. graduate programs.”
More than 175 institutions responded to the CGS’s graduate admissions and enrollment survey, including 80 percent of the institutions with the largest international student enrollments.
|