HTC & USA Today
Washington, September 8, 2004
US graduate schools this year saw a 28 per cent decline in applications
from international students and an 18 per cent drop in admissions, a
finding that some experts say threatens higher education's ability in
the US to maintain its reputation for offering high-quality programmes.
The sharp declines, based on responses from 126 institutions, were
reported in a study released on Tuesday by the Council of Graduate Schools,
a Washington-based non-profit body. About 88 per cent of those schools
reported a decline in international applications; 12 per cent saw an
increase.
The survey speaks of a 28 per cent drop in the number of applications
from Indian students during 2003-04. In terms of admissions, the decline
in Indian students is put at 19 per cent.
Several factors contribute to the drops, council president Debra Stewart
says. Those include changes to the visa application process after 9/11,
a perception that the USA has grown less welcoming of foreigners and
increased competition from universities abroad. Secretary of State Colin
Powell, speaking in May, acknowledged that "procedural frustrations"
could prevent more foreign students from enrolling in US programmes.
"We have to do a better job of attracting them here."
US institutions like to enroll foreign students for several reasons:
Undergraduates typically pay higher tuition and aren't eligible for
most financial aid, and many universities depend on foreign graduate
students to teach classes and staff research labs.
Among the survey findings:
Applications from China and Korea — the two other countries where
the majority of international applications come from — dropped
45 per cent and 14 per cent respectively from last year to this year.
The number of admitted students from China dropped 34 per cent and from
Korea, 12 per cent.
Engineering applications fell 36 per cent; the number of admitted students
dropped 24 per cent. Programmes in the sciences reported application
decreases averaging 20 per cent.