U.S. Slips in Attracting the World's Best Students - NYTimes

[rndmprsn]

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/21/national/21global.html?hp&ex=1103691600&en=255cb6ba2a51c294&ei=5094&partner=homepage

American universities, which for half a century have attracted the world's best and brightest students with little effort, are suddenly facing intense competition as higher education undergoes rapid globalization.

The European Union, moving methodically to compete with American universities, is streamlining the continent's higher education system and offering American-style degree programs taught in English. Britain, Australia and New Zealand are aggressively recruiting foreign students, as are Asian centers like Taiwan and Hong Kong. And China, which has declared that transforming 100 universities into world-class research institutions is a national priority, is persuading top Chinese scholars to return home from American universities.

"What we're starting to see in terms of international students now having options outside the U.S. for high-quality education is just the tip of the iceberg," said David G. Payne, an executive director of the Educational Testing Service, which administers several tests taken by foreign students to gain admission to American universities. "Other countries are just starting to expand their capacity for offering graduate education. In the future, foreign students will have far greater opportunities."

Foreign students contribute $13 billion to the American economy annually. But this year brought clear signs that the United States' overwhelming dominance of international higher education may be ending. In July, Mr. Payne briefed the National Academy of Sciences on a sharp plunge in the number of students from India and China who had taken the most recent administration of the Graduate Record Exam, a requirement for applying to most graduate schools; it had dropped by half.

[slor]

1. Gee, I wonder if...

the dumb half of American is making them think twice about our educational system?

[Bozita]

2. The falling American dollar makes US education cheaper ...

... and foreign enrollment drops.

Huh?

[mdhunter]

4. I have more Canadians in my grad program that you can shake a stick at

And, to a person, they're thrilled with the dollar's demise. More than one has even talked about slowing her program down, and staying another semester or two because it's a relative bargain these days.

Though private universities are more expensive here, with the discount, they're paying just slightly more than they would have at home for a state school.

[JHB]

5. Not just the money...

...but the Bushoid version of "homeland security" is making it a substantially bigger hassle for some students, enough to make even "nonsupicious" people choose to go somewhere else.

[lectrobyte]

6. I've heard the visa process is more difficult these days, I also

suspect that we are not perceived as the friendly place we think we are by a lot of countries.

[WhereIsMyFreedom]

13. It is totally the visa issue

Presenting your research in conferences is one of the most important parts of graduate study. At least in Computer Science, many of the important conferences are happening overseas. I know of a number of students who have skipped conferences because the risk of not being allowed back into the country is too high.

[Southpaw Bookworm]

11. A few relevant articles

The issue isn't the value of the dollar, it's the problems that foreign students have to go through in order to attend. In some case, the students were waiting for years for the visa paperwork to go through.

Not to mention the fact that any brown-skinned person who speaks with an accent might as well have a giant target on their head in certain areas of the country.

http://chronicle.com/prm/weekly/v51/i13/13a00101.htm

http://chronicle.com/prm/weekly/v51/i17/17a02702.htm

[tanyev]

3. Or maybe

they just don't want to come here.

[lovuian]

7. I'm actually glad this is happening and hope our US students

gets the education they deserve!!!

Its about time!!! :bounce:

[Jesus H. Christ]

9. Oh, they'll get the education they deserve alright.

But I don't think that means what you think it means.

[Bozita]

8. looks like we're losing some of the faculty

from the last part of the NYT article:

The United States is also losing some Chinese scholars, partly because of China's strategic decision over the last decade to channel special investments to 100 universities with a view to building them into world-class research giants capable of winning Nobel Prizes.

In October, Dr. Coleman of the University of Michigan visited Shanghai Jiao Tong University, which created the online university ranking system and has also built a vast new campus. Partly because Dr. Coleman is a biochemist, her hosts took her to visit their new pharmacy school. It had hired 16 professors, she said - all of them returned from American universities.

But not only Chinese universities are seeking to lure top faculty members from American campuses.

"Baseball's World Series includes only American teams," said Michael Crow, president of Arizona State University. "But higher education is truly a world series now, because we're competing for students and faculty against universities all over the world."

[malaise]

10. Many students

no longer feel safe in the US. They don't think it's worth the hassle.

[Southpaw Bookworm]

12. Recent situation at Notre Dame

Where an international fellow was prohibited from coming into the U.S.

http://chronicle.com/prm/weekly/v51/i03/03a00801.htm

http://chronicle.com/prm/weekly/v51/i03/03b02001.htm

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A64700-2004Dec14.html

[lovuian]

16. Ok heres my point Chinese Scholars are going Home

to start their OWN Pharmacy School after we trained them to compete with Phizer and Merck!!!

Come On Guys Wake up!!!

You want all American jobs to go to China And India

these kids can become their OWN CEO"S making zillions
with cheap labor and we trained them to compete with us meanwhile they knocked out potential US scholars. the lowering of the Visas rock!!! Thank you Bush Terrorism!!!

there has to be some Perks!!!

[Bozita]

14. kick

[Sara Beverley]

15. The world's brightest students know they will be discriminated against

in America. Most are non-white and they know they will not be welcome.

[lovuian]

17. No their work will be under US hands. and they wanted for them!

and I don't blame them they have tons more potential in China than working here in the US where you can be laid off in a second!!!