VOA教育报道2022--Indian Students Gain Presence in US

Indian Students Gain Presence in US

24 December 2022

The number of international students coming to the United States has dropped in recent years.

Experts noted¹ three reasons for the decrease: concerns about U.S. policies toward foreigners, efforts from Canada, Australia and Britain to gain international students, and the COVID-19 pandemic.

But the latest Open Doors report showed that international students are coming back to the U.S.

The yearly study looks at the number of international students in the U.S. It also looks at how many American students are going away for school.

China remains² the country that sends the most students to the U.S. But India is closing the gap according to the 2022 report. The number of students from India increased by 19 percent while those from China dropped by nine percent in the most recent school year.

VOA Learning English recently spoke³ with three Indian students to learn more about their reasons for coming to the U.S.

Shivani Sadare

Shivani Sadare is from Pune, a community near the western Indian city of Mumbai. Sadare is in her first year studying for an advanced degree at Syracuse University in New York. She came to the U.S. after completing college in India and getting some work experience.

Sadare said she and many Indian students have delayed their studies in the U.S. because of the COVID-19 pandemic. And one of the reasons for the recent rise is that they are making up for lost time.

Studying in the U.S., Sadare said, gives her more choices. And Indian companies value an advanced degree from the U.S. more than the same degree from a school in India.

"It has the technology, the developing companies and a huge scope," she said. "If you are doing a master's, it is easier to grow in the U.S."

Kartik Sundaram

Kartik Sundaram is studying user experience, an important part of website design, at the University of Michigan. He attended Michigan as an undergraduate and will complete a master's degree next year.

Sundaram spent most of his time in New Dehli before coming to Michigan five years ago. During his time in Michigan, Sundaram thinks there has been a change in the thinking of students from India.

In the past, he said, Indian students came to the U.S. looking for a better life. Their parents fell in love with the idea that "the U.S. is the best." But lately, students come to the U.S. looking for a culture change or looking for the school that is the best for them.

"On the whole, everyone was just about the grades and about being the best and about getting into the best university, I think now there is just a little more acceptance that maybe, maybe, just getting into the best university and getting into the best job is not necessarily what it seems to be."

Mallika Gore⁴

Mallika Gore is a third-year student at Syracuse University. She said Indian students are coming to the U.S. even though it is difficult for them to stay and work after they finish their education.

The student experience, she said, is different in the U.S. "The U.S. explores and promotes a more well-rounded education, which is enticing⁵ for us."

Financial support

All three students said they have been able to study in the U.S. with the help of scholarships and other tuition reductions. Students can pay less for school if they work as teaching assistants or resident advisors⁶.

Gore receives financial support from the Next Genius Scholarship Program. As a graduate assistant, Sundaram gets a small amount of money in addition to free tuition. Sadare also has a scholarship.

Since the cost of education is very high in the U.S., Sundaram said some Indian students choose less costly⁷ education in Hong Kong, Singapore and Germany. And the strong U.S. dollar against the Indian rupee does not help.

Five years ago, Sundaram said, it was about 63 rupees to buy one dollar. Today, one dollar costs about 80 rupees.

Allen Koh is the chief executive of Cardinal⁸ Education, a U.S.-based company that helps students prepare their college applications. Koh's company works with many international students each year.

Even before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, he saw signs that more Indian students would be coming to the U.S. But the Open Doors report only showed it this year.

"[Indians] are very attracted to the American story," Koh said. "There are so many Indian-Americans who have skyrocketed to the top echelons¹⁰ of business and technology here."

Koh advised students to look for universities that are one level below the very top. Those schools, Koh said, will likely have scholarship money for strong international students.

Koh said he expects to get more business from India shortly. He is planning to visit to speak with students and families soon.

"And we're not traveling for work yet. But India is going to be my first stop when we do start, and we will probably be going into at least four cities."

Words in This Story

gap –n. a missing space between two things

advanced –adj. beyond the most basic level

scope –n. space or opportunity for something (such as study or thought)

undergraduate –n. the level of college after high school

promote –v. to say good things about something, to help something develop

enticing –adj. appealing or attractive; interesting

scholarship –n. money set aside for students by organizations such as universities or charities

tuition –n. the cost of going to school

echelon⁹ –n. a level in an organization or structure

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 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。

3 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

4 gore   

n.凝血，血污；v.（动物）用角撞伤，用牙刺破；缝以补裆；顶

参考例句：

• The fox lay dying in a pool of gore.狐狸倒在血泊中奄奄一息。
• Carruthers had been gored by a rhinoceros.卡拉瑟斯被犀牛顶伤了。

5 enticing   

adj.迷人的；诱人的

参考例句：

• The offer was too enticing to refuse. 这提议太有诱惑力，使人难以拒绝。
• Her neck was short but rounded and her arms plump and enticing. 她的脖子短，但浑圆可爱；两臂丰腴，也很动人。

6 advisors   

n.顾问，劝告者( advisor的名词复数 )；（指导大学新生学科问题等的）指导教授

参考例句：

• The governors felt that they were being strung along by their advisors. 地方长官感到他们一直在受顾问们的愚弄。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• We will consult together with advisors about her education. 我们将一起和专家商议她的教育事宜。 来自互联网

7 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

8 cardinal   

n.(天主教的)红衣主教；adj.首要的，基本的

参考例句：

• This is a matter of cardinal significance.这是非常重要的事。
• The Cardinal coloured with vexation. 红衣主教感到恼火，脸涨得通红。

9 echelon   

n.梯队；组织系统中的等级；v.排成梯队

参考例句：

• What kind of friends can be considered the first echelon of the friends?那什么样的朋友才能算第一梯队的朋友？
• These are the first echelon members.这些是我们的第一梯队的队员。

10 echelons   

n.（机构中的）等级，阶层( echelon的名词复数 )；（军舰、士兵、飞机等的）梯形编队

参考例句：

• Officers were drawn largely from the top echelons of society. 这些官员大都来自社会上层。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Except in the higher echelons, extensive classification has no place in the classification of vegetation. 除高阶类级之外，外延分类在植物分类中还是没有地位的。 来自辞典例句