Rush for US varsities

AMERICAN universities are enrolling a new wave of Chinese undergraduates, according to the annual Open Doors report.

US foreign student boom
# Indians remained the biggest group of foreign students in the United States in the last academic year but their numbers appeared to be leveling off, while strong growth came from China, Vietnam and several other emerging economies.
# The United States hosts far more foreign students than any other country, owing to their universities' reputation, flexibility and concerted recruitment drives, said the Institute of International Education, an educators' group.
# The number of foreign students increased eight per cent to a record 671,616 in 2008-2009 from the previous academic year, the sharpest growth since 1980-81.
# Foreign students generate close to US$18 billion a year. Officials and educators said higher education was proving to be a strong engine to bolster the troubled US economy.
# Saudi Arabia was among the countries that sent more students to the United States last year, with the number jumping 28 per cent from a year earlier to 12,661.
# But China was the key driver of growth, with the number of Chinese students heading to the United States increasing 21 per cent to 98,510.
# There has been a dramatic growth in the number of Vietnamese students, with the figure soaring by 46 per cent last year.
# The only country that saw a significant decline was Japan. The number of Japanese studying in the United States slipped nearly 14 per cent, a trend the study pinned on Japan's shaky economy and shrinking population.
# More than half of US universities promoted themselves overseas. The United States remained by far the biggest single destination for students studying outside their own country, but the gap has narrowed in recent years with Britain, its biggest competitor.
# The United States in 2008 pulled in 21 per cent of the world's estimated three million foreign students, compared with 13 per cent for Britain. France came in third at nine per cent, followed closely by Germany.
# But in a sign there is room for growth, foreigners made up only 3.5 per cent of the overall student body in the United States, compared with 16.3 in Britain and 22.5 per cent in Australia.
# The study also found that a record 262,416 Americans studied overseas the same year. More than half went to Europe but a growing number headed elsewhere, with 19 per cent more going to China than a year ago and 14 per cent more to Japan. -- AFP.
While India was, for the eighth consecutive year, the leading country of origin for international students - sending 103,260 students, a 9 per cent increase over the previous year - China is rapidly catching up, sending 98,235 last year, a 21 per cent increase. The figures include undergraduates, graduate students, and students enrolled in non-degree programmes.

'I think we're going to be seeing 100,000 students from each, for years to come, with an increasing share of them being undergraduates,' said Ms Peggy Blumenthal, executive vice-president of the Institute of International Education, which publishes the report with support from the State Department.

Overall, the number of international students at colleges and universities in the United States rose by 8 per cent to an all-time high of 671,616 in the 2008-2009 academic year - the largest percentage increase in more than 25 years, according to the report.

With the current recession, the influx of international students has been especially important to the American economy, according to Dr Allan Goodman, president of the institute.

'International education is domestic economic development,' Dr Goodman said. 'International students shop at the local Wal-Mart, rent rooms and buy food. Foreign students bring US$17.8 billion (S$25 billion) to this country. A lot of campuses this year are increasing their international recruitment, trying to keep their programmes whole by recruiting international students to fill their spaces.'