Fewer New International Students Attending US Colleges

 

For the first time in 12 years, the number of new international students attending American colleges and universities has dropped.

That information comes from the 2017 Open Doors Report on International Educational Exchange.

The report is a project of the Institute of International Education, a not-for-profit group in the United States, and the U.S. Department of State. The findings were released on Monday.

The Open Doors report has been documenting international student exchanges at American colleges and universities since 1954. The 2016-2017 school year marked the second year in a row that over a million international students attended the schools.

This time, the number of new international college students was about 10,000 less than a year earlier. That represents an almost three percent decrease from the 2015-2016 school year.

The latest Open Doors report did note a record year, with the largest number of international college students in the U.S. to date. But separately, the Institute of International Education noted¹ a drop in the number of internationals seeking admission for the current school year. The average decrease, at almost 500 colleges and universities, was seven percent.

Allan Goodman is the president of the institute, also known as the IIE. He said the main reason for the decrease is economics². The cost of higher education nationwide has been rising over the past 30 years. Goodman noted that the United States faces greater competition than ever to provide top quality education.

“Countries and multinational³ employers around the world are competing to attract top talent,” he said at a press conference Monday. “As more countries … implement⁴ national strategies to attract them, the competition … will only intensify⁵.”

Goodman also noted cuts to several programs that sent many international college students to the U.S. in the past. For over 10 years, the government in Saudi Arabia spent billions of dollars so that its citizens could study in other countries. But in 2016, falling oil prices led the government to make cuts to that program. This resulted in a 14 percent decrease in the number of Saudi Arabian college students coming to the United States last year.

Earlier this year, Brazil’s Ministry⁶ of Education announced plans to cancel a similar program. Started in 2011, the program helped send over 100,000 university students overseas to study the sciences. The new report noted that the number of Brazilians attending American colleges and universities dropped by about 32 percent.

However, some experts argue it is not just economics that are affecting the decrease in international students.

Philip Altbach directs the Center for International Higher Education in the Lynch School of Education at Boston College. Last year, he predicted a decrease in the number of international students coming to the U.S. His predictions were published in several opinion pieces.

So why is the United States suddenly less appealing? Altbach thinks the policies and behavior of President Donald Trump⁷ are partly to blame. And he believes those policies and actions could lead to fewer international students in the years to come.

“The US is seen as an unwelcoming country in the ‘age of Trump,’ Altbach told VOA. “This is combined with both the perception⁸ and … the reality that it is more difficult to obtain a US visa than it used to be. … The US remains⁹ the strongest … system in the world … but negative forces grow ever stronger.”

In the first month of his presidency¹⁰, Trump announced a temporary ban on travel to the U.S. by citizens of several Middle Eastern countries. And in September, he announced an expansion of that ban to include other countries, such as Venezuela and North Korea.

Altbach adds that the rise of racist¹¹ incidents at American colleges and cities does not improve the way the world looks at the United States. One example took place three months ago at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia. White nationalists clashed¹² with opponents near the school’s grounds. One woman and two male law enforcement officers were killed.

As the 2017-2018 school year began, several other schools reported finding racist images or messages on their campuses.

Recent violent attacks, like the mass shooting in Las Vegas in October, only add to the fears of international students and their parents, says Altbach.

But Marianne Craven argues that politics and other issues are not the only influences on peoples’ decisions to study in the United States. Craven is the Acting¹³ Deputy¹⁴ Assistant Secretary for Academic Programs for the State Department. She says that international students are much more concerned with the future an American education can offer them.

“Students make their choices of where to study with their long-term goals and career plans in mind,” Craven told VOA. She added “These are very personal decisions by students and their families.

Craven says the State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs plans to continue building friendly relations between the U.S. and other countries. It plans to do so through educational, cultural, sports, and professional exchanges.

The number of people attending events designed to publicize American higher education in other countries remains strong, Craven adds.

While the United States may be facing a decrease in the number of new foreign college students, Canada is becoming more appealing. Between 2008 and 2015, the total number of international students at Canadian colleges and universities increased by about 92 percent.

A decrease in the number of international college students at American colleges and universities could affect the U.S. economy. The Department of Commerce reports that internationals students added about $39 billion to the economy last year.

I’m Pete Musto. And I'm Jill Robbins.

Words in This Story

in a row – idm. following one after another

attract – v. to cause someone to choose to do or be involved in something

talent – n. a person or group of people with a special ability to do something well

implement – v. to begin to do or use something, such as a plan

strategies – n. a careful plan or method for achieving a particular goal usually over a long period of time

perception – n. the way you think about or understand someone or something

obtain – v. to gain or get something, usually by effort

negative – adj. harmful or bad

racist – adj. used to describe the poor treatment of or violence against people because of their race

campus(es) - n. the area and buildings around a university, college, school

professional - adj. done or given by a person who works in a particular? job or industry

publicize – v. to cause something to be publicly known

1 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

2 economics   

n.经济学，经济情况

参考例句：

• He is studying economics,which subject is very important.他正在学习经济学，该学科是很重要的。
• One can't separate politics from economics.不能把政治与经济割裂开来。

3 multinational   

adj.多国的，多种国籍的；n.多国籍公司，跨国公司

参考例句：

• The firm was taken over by a multinational consulting firm.这家公司被一个跨国咨询公司收购。
• He analyzed the relationship between multinational corporations and under-developed countries.他分析了跨国公司和不发达国家之间的关系。

4 implement   

n.(pl.)工具，器具；vt.实行，实施，执行

参考例句：

• Don't undertake a project unless you can implement it.不要承担一项计划，除非你能完成这项计划。
• The best implement for digging a garden is a spade.在花园里挖土的最好工具是铁锹。

5 intensify   

vt.加强；变强；加剧

参考例句：

• We must intensify our educational work among our own troops.我们必须加强自己部队的教育工作。
• They were ordered to intensify their patrols to protect our air space.他们奉命加强巡逻，保卫我国的领空。

6 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

7 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

8 perception   

n.感知，感觉，觉察(力)；认识，观念，看法

参考例句：

• What's your perception of the matter?你对此事有什么看法？
• He was a man of keen perception.他是一个感觉敏锐的人。

9 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

10 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

11 racist   

n.种族主义者，种族主义分子

参考例句：

• a series of racist attacks 一连串的种族袭击行为
• His speech presented racist ideas under the guise of nationalism. 他的讲话以民族主义为幌子宣扬种族主义思想。

12 clashed   

发出撞击声（clash的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• The color of the curtains clashed with the color of the carpet. 窗帘的颜色与地毯的颜色不协调。
• Her wedding clashed with my examination, so I couldn't go. 她的婚礼与我的考试冲突，因此我无法参加。

13 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

14 deputy   

n.代理人，代表，副职；adj.代理的，副的

参考例句：

• John will act as a deputy for me during my absence.我离开期间，约翰将代理我的职务。
• She is the deputy headmistress of the school.她是那所学校的代理校长。