Foreign Grad Student Enrollment Declining in American Universities

Thirty-Six Percent Drop in First-Year Foreign Engineering Students Reported

Increased global competition, changing visa policies and diminished perceptions of the U.S. abroad have lead to an overall decline in first-time international graduate student enrollment, according to a survey from the Council of Graduate Schools (CGS). Overall enrollment decreased 6 percent between 2003-2004, the third straight year of decline after a decade of growth, survey results show.

First-time international graduate school enrollment fell 10 percent between 2002 and fall 2003 and fell 8 percent the year before.

Results from the third survey in a trio of studies conducted by CGS indicate the U.S. may be slipping as a leader in higher education. Although the numbers are distressing, CGS President Debra Stewart says, graduate schools are battling the declines by streamlining their admissions processes, enhancing their use of technology, and forming important international partnerships.

Highlights of the October 2004 survey include:

• 68 percent of responding graduate schools reported a decline in first-time international graduate student enrollment;
• First-time enrollment decreased by 8 percent in China and by 4 percent in India;
• First-time enrollment decreased 10 percent in life sciences and agriculture and 8 percent in engineering;
• Physical sciences, the only field to show a rise in first-time enrollment, increased 6 percent; and,
• Public institutions and research intensive universities faced the largest decline, 12 percent each, while international enrollment in private institutions decreased only 3 percent.

In the fall of 2003, CGS discovered a 47 percent decline in international enrollments for fall compared to the previous year, prompting them to launch a three-part survey to gather data on applications, admits and enrollment. The first part indicated that international graduate applications through February 2004 decreased by 32 percent. A significant decrease in applications was reported from China, India and Taiwan, specifically in engineering and the sciences.

The second part, administered in June 2004, was designed to ascertain the relationship between applications and to determine the initiatives being taken by schools to counter the declines. Approximately 88 percent of responding institutions reported a decrease in international applications, with programs in life sciences reporting declines averaging 20 percent. Engineering saw the largest drop with applications declining by 36 percent between 2003-2004. In response to the findings, graduate schools reported instituting policy changes to address the admissions process.

CGS notes that first-year declines also must be viewed in the context of overall patterns of graduate enrollment. Other related factors such as economic and labor market cycles may also be driving the enrollment patterns. Another three-part survey will be conducted over the next three years to further evaluate the trends. Complete survey results are available at: http://www.cgsnet.org