Study Reveals Slowdown in International Graduate Student Applications
Britain, France, Germany, Australia, and China are becoming a stronger presence in the postgraduate studies landscape, cutting into the United States’ historical dominance as the most sought-after destination for international students seeking a master’s or doctoral degree.
Nearly 40 percent of all institutions surveyed experienced declines in the growth rates of international graduate student applications between 2007 and 2008, according to a recently released report by the Council of Graduate Schools.
Rate of Slowdown “Unexpected”
Schools responding to the CGS survey reported only a minimal increase in graduate-school applications from non-U.S. citizens for the first time in years. Overall, the number of these applications increased just 3 percent in 2008, compared to a 9-percent increase in 2007 and a 12-percent increase in 2006.
Since 2004, the number of international graduate applications is down by 30 percent.
After years of a steady increase in foreign graduate applications, it was inevitable that the rate of growth would inevitably level out, said Kenneth Redd, director of research and policy analysis at CGS, in an Inside Higher Ed article. Even so, he added, the suddenness of the current slowdown and the marked rate of dropoff in the number of applications were unexpected.
Fewer Applicants from Asian Countries
Perhaps most notably, the United States seems to have lost appeal among the three Asian countries that have typically brought in the most foreign students.
According to the Institute of International Education’s 2007 Open Doors report, a full 50 percent of non-U.S. graduate-school applicants come from India, China, and Korea.
But the number of applications from India stayed flat this year, after having grown 12 percent last year and 26 percent in 2006. Applications from Korea also failed to grow this year, as well as last, after a 4-percent increase in 2006. And the number of applications from China are up only 12 percent, compared to an increase of 19 percent in 2007.
At the Root of the Application Slowdown: Limited Financial Aid and Access to Student Loans
Although the United States may still stand, for now, as the leading destination for prospective international graduate students, increased worldwide competition for postgraduate talent is changing the picture.
The CGS report points to three key areas in which the United States is losing ground:
1. Competing countries are ramping up financial aid and international marketing campaigns. Australia, France, Germany, and Britain have strived to make their graduate programs more attractive by aggressively and strategically recruiting abroad and by increasing financial aid offerings to international students.
In contrast, the United States makes its federal student loans (http://www.nextstudent.com/) and grants available only to U.S. citizens and permanent residents. On an institutional level, only a limited number of U.S. schools offer financial aid packages for foreign students. These students may also have difficulties qualifying for private student loans (http://www.nextstudent.com/private_loans/private_loans.asp).
As a result, over 60 percent of international students are forced to rely on personal and family funds to support their graduate studies overseas, according to the Open Doors report.
2. Foreign students view the United States as unwelcoming. The United States has gained a reputation abroad as being dangerous, culturally insensitive, and one of the hardest countries in which to obtain a student visa, particularly due to the tightening of national security after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.
3. Countries are making moves to keep their students at home. China has more than doubled its number of graduate students over the past 10 years, after improving the quality of its institutions and expanding its schools’ capacities. South Korea has given its universities a global reach with a $1 billion investment in research. India has initiated a plan to build 1,500 new universities by 2015.
Learn more about Student Loans (http://www.nextstudent.com/student-loans/student-loans.asp) and Private Student Loans (http://www.nextstudent.com/).
Watch the video related to international graduate
Graduate and International Programs at USC Law USC Gould School of Law University of Southern California
Help answer the question about international graduate
Where to get financial aid for international graduate students if university doesn't provide it?I am looking for any kind of financial aid for international students who are already enrolled in US college.
P.S. I am from Ukraine.
About Author
Jeff Mictabor is an enthusiast on the topic of student loan issues in the news. He has been writing for the past 10 years for a variety of education publications. He now offers his writing services on a freelance basis.
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