International students account for greater percentage, as total number of first time graduate students in the US falls
Released annually, the Council of Graduate Schools and the Graduate Examinations Board’s ‘Survey of Graduate Enrollment and Degrees’ is a fascinating snapshot of the current state of graduate studies in the US, covering things like the shifting demographics of applicants, and the subjects they are choosing to study.
This year’s report has made the headlines as a result of one its findings – that first time enrolments onto graduate-level degrees fell by 1.1% in 2009/10. This is the first time this has happened since 2003. That fewer students are enrolling on graduate courses for the first time could be down to a number of factors, but it seems possible that this is a shift from a mentality of enrolling on a graduate program while waiting for the job market to improve, to one of being unwilling to leave a secure job and risk not finding another.
However, the figures also reveal that the number of international students (temporary residents) enrolling on a graduate course increased this year, after dipping for the first time since 2004 in 2008/09. International students now account for 16% of first-time graduate students in the US. The percentage of US residents actually fell this year by 1.2%, while the number of international students increased by 4.7%. This bucks the trend of the past decade, over which new domestic enrolment has typically gone up by a greater percentage than international (an average of 4.4% as compared to 2.3%). Mathematics is the subject which has seen the greatest increase in international student numbers, with a rise of 10%, followed by business (8.3%), physical and earth sciences (6.4%).
A total of 445,000 students enrolled on graduate programs for the first time, with education, business and health science students accounting for nearly half. Continue Reading
HE News Briefs 27.9.11
by Abby Chau
- AUSTRALIA: Visa restrictions have been lifted for international students
- UNITED STATES: Admission officers feel pressure to look at students who can pay their own way
- SAUDI ARABIA: The country has been building partnerships around the world but some warn caution
- SPAIN: Finding it difficult to implement its second year plan for the Bologna Process
- BRITAIN: Tuition fee hikes have made some consider other routes for students Continue Reading
HE News Brief 23.8.11
by Abby Chau
- UNITED STATES: California’s beleaguered higher education system
- SINGAPORE: Cap on foreign student numbers
- AUSTRALIA: International student woes
- UNITED KINGDOM: New report by HEPI looks into UK higher ed system
Continue Reading
HE News Brief 9.8.11
by Abby Chau
- UNITED STATES: Forbes publishes the top 650 US undergraduate colleges
- GHANA: Student protests erupt in response to what some deem as unfair fees
- SWITZERLAND: Institutions are considering limiting foreign student figures
- CHINA: To expand its online activities as part of its Five-Year higher ed strategy
- UK: New forecast for England’s higher education woes Continue Reading
The US debt ceiling deal explained: how will it affect students?
By Mansoor Iqbal, Education Writer
International news over the past few months has been dominated by the very real possibility that the world’s largest economy might default on its debt. The effect, not just on the US itself, but on the rest of the world would have been catastrophic had this occurred, but a last minute deal struck by US President Barack Obama and the US legislature (Congress) earlier this week prevented this from occurring.
If you’re not well-versed in financial jargon and the in and outs of the US economy, then you may well have found the coverage a little opaque. Clearly, something big is happening, and it seems disaster has been avoided, but when it comes to actually explaining what is going on then things get a little more complicated.
Online tool allows students to identify highest and lowest priced US institutions
By Mansoor Iqbal, Education Writer
The US Department of Education has made a new online tool available with which students can identify the most expensive and the cheapest colleges in the country. The College Affordability and Transparency Centre allows users to generate reports showing the institutions which charge the highest and lowest tuition fees, and the ones with the highest and lowest net prices – the average cost of attendance (this is tuition plus other fees, books and supplies, and room and board), taking into account grants and scholarship aid.
The tool covers nine sectors in total, allowing separate reports to be generated for public, private not-for-profit, and private for-profit four-year, two-year and less-than-two-year institutions. The most expensive 5% and the cheapest 10% are covered.
If only tuition fees are considered, the most expensive three public schools are Pennsylvania State University – Main Campus, the University of Pittsburgh – Pittsburgh Campus, and the University of Vermont, which charge $14,416, $14,154 and $13,554 respectively. The most expensive when other costs and aid are taken into account are the University of Texas Health Center at San Antonio, Saint Mary’s College of Maryland and Rowan University – $24,192, $23,902, and $21,468. Continue Reading
University Internationalization: A Myth in American Higher Education
Mariana Ashley is a freelance writer who particularly enjoys writing about online colleges. She loves receiving reader feedback, which can be directed to mariana.ashley031 @gmail.com.
As the world weathers the regressing economic storm, we here in the United States are finally beginning to understand what it means to feel that our status as the unquestionable leader in economic and social power has become precarious. There’s been much talk about China, and subsequently about competition on the international scene. As America’s educational system, even its much-lauded higher education system, continues to slip according to various metrics, there has been a renewed interest in internationalization in the past few decades. At the same time, this interest is skin-deep, as the cutting of foreign language programs and the deceptive cash cow that has become the study abroad industry both illustrate.
While there is no doubt that many US universities offer some of the best facilities for both students and researchers, the cost of a higher education here has risen to unprecedented levels. The cutting of foreign language programs across the American higher education spectrum and the increased difficulty of international students to attend school here and stay afterwards to apply their skills proves America’s increased march toward national insularity.
The prevalence of study abroad programs and their popularity among students would suggest that there is a sincere interest within both schools and students to live and study in a different country, among different people, and to learn a different culture and its attendant customs. However, the slew of scandals that many study abroad providers have undergone in the past few years demonstrates that, if anything, the pervasive “study abroad” route that many American undergraduates take is a manufactured experience that parades itself as internationalization. Continue Reading
Too many graduates, or too few?
by Mansoor Iqbal, Education Writer
Competition for jobs may be intense, but the vital role played by graduates in economic growth and recovery means that some voices believe the world needs more, not fewer.
It has recently been reported that no less than 83 applicants apply for every graduate level role in the UK. The total number of graduate jobs is expected to rise by 2.6% in 2011, and it should be remembered that graduates can often be pretty indiscriminate when applying for a first job, but the figure is still pretty daunting. It is no wonder, then, that one proposal in the recent white paper presented to the government by the UK’s Minister for Universities, David Willetts, was that universities publish data on how many of their graduates are able to find work – this is one of the primary concerns of students in the 21st century (as reflected in the methodology of the QS World University Rankings®, which takes into account the prestige afforded to universities by graduate employers).
Graduate unemployment figures inevitably add to these concerns. While the UK is used as an example here, the problems are certainly not limited to that particular nation – graduates in countries as prosperous as the US and China are also facing stiff competition for jobs (though it should be noted that graduates are generally less likely to be unemployed that non-graduates). The almost inevitable consequence of this is voices calling for the number of students in higher education to be greatly reduced, particularly while we are still living in the shadow of the financial crisis that occurred at the end of the last decade. Continue Reading
HE News Brief 21.6.11
by Abby Chau
IN THIS EDITION
- INTERNATIONAL: Institutional reputation in the age of rankings
- INTERNATIONAL: The European University Association releases its critique of rankings
- UNITED KINGDOM: More UK Students are reportedly targeting US Ivy Leagues
- INTERNATIONAL: Rethinking the phenomenon of academic ‘brain drain’
Continue Reading
Texas Budget Shortfall Could Mean Steep Cuts into HE Funding
This guest post is contributed by Katheryn Rivas, who particularly enjoys writing about online universities. Questions and comments can be sent to: katherynrivas87@gmail.com.
Throughout the recession, for the past several years, some states, like California, were labeled big losers, while other states, namely Texas, were revered as models of conservative fiscal policy. Led by long-standing Governor Rick Perry, Texas fared much better throughout the economic recession, although critics contest that the state’s deficit was essentially hidden under political rhetoric that decried stimulus money with the right hand, while grabbing tons of federal funds with the left. As Texas draws up its budget in April, currently projecting a $27 billion dollar deficit, experts believe that the chickens, as it were, are coming home to roost. And that could mean bad news for state higher education funding in particular.
The University of Texas at Austin, the state’s leading institution of public higher education, as well as a nationally renowned research institution, may face $100 million dollars in cuts in 2012-13 in the state’s biennial budget. UT President Bill Powers cited this estimate, basing figures made by the House and the Senate. Since 2009, UT cut over $14 million dollars from its budget, and Powers noted that cuts of this scale in the next state budget would have a “significant and negative impact on teaching and research” at the school.
The University of Houston, a higher education system that services one of the biggest cities in the United States, with over 60,000 students, is expecting similar cuts into its budget, estimated at $81 million dollars, according to a Houston Chronicle article. UH Chancellor Renu Khator said the school may be forced to hike tuition fees if budget cuts go through. The article noted that Khator told the Senate in recent testimony that the budget cuts “would be the equivalent of losing 9,300 students, offering 1,220 fewer courses and losing between 300 and 400 faculty members.” The Daily Cougar, a UH student publication, noted that student financial aid is likewise at high risk.
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