First-time international student enrollment in U.S. graduate programs spiked 8 percent from 2010, according to a report released yesterday by the Council of Graduate Schools. This dwarfed every single-year increase since 2006, when first-time international graduate student enrollment rose 12 percent.
Politicians, administrators, faculty and present and future students should react positively to this news, which indicates the U.S. higher education system remains among the strongest in the world. Furthermore, they ought to encourage the continuation of this trend since it is beneficial to students, higher education institutions and the country as a whole.
There are a number of reasons why international students should be such an important part of any institution's enrollment strategy. Notably, these individuals are generally among the best that their countries have to offer, which means they increase the academic quality of the universities they attend. Moreover, many international students pay out-of-state tuition to attend U.S. universities and in doing so subsidize in-state students' cost of attendance and provide a critical source of revenue at a time when state support for public institutions is declining.
Educating international students also improves the academic achievement level of the global workforce, which boosts the U.S. economy both directly and indirectly. For example, if international students graduate and remain in the United States then they are likely to fill or create well-paying jobs that demand college degrees. This will make them productive participants in the U.S. economy, as they will increase the overall demand for goods and services and will contribute much-needed tax revenue. In addition, many international graduates send remittances back home to their families in often impoverished regions of the globe. This increases standards of living in those areas, as well as the overall economies of the nations in which they are located.
If students return to their native countries upon graduation, they are likely to contribute to their national economies by starting businesses or dedicating their acquired expertise to public service. This will raise their nations' income levels and improve their business climates, which will increase global demand for higher-end services produced by the United States such as information technology and banking.
This task of graduating greater numbers of international students is made all the more immediate by the fact that there is a serious glut of educational talent in developing countries such as China and India that lack expansive higher education systems. As those nations' economies have grown rapidly in recent years and their middle-classes have ballooned, the demand for higher education services has increased correspondingly.
In India, this has led to a situation in which only about 2 percent of applicants are admitted to the elite Indian Institutes of Technology. Thus, the United States should aim to absorb this excess demand with its well-developed network of higher education. Not only will this contribute to the intellectual and economic advancement of international students to whom these opportunities otherwise would be denied, but it will also yield payoffs to the United States in the form of economic growth, enhancements to the nation's quality of higher education and increased diversity.
The report also noted that the 100 institutions whose graduate programs' conferred the most degrees to international students enjoyed an average rise in first-time international enrollment of 9 percent; other schools only increased an average of 4 percent. These network effects should give the University an added incentive to build upon this year's roughly 4 percent increase in total international graduate enrollment since it has the possibility to create a virtuous cycle that will put the institution and its students on stronger footing for the future.
Read More
EDITORIAL: U.Va. Health lets fear trump its mission to do no harm
By Editorial Board | 2 hours agoIt is high time to resist these authoritative and dangerous actions before there are no federal avenues left for resistance.
CARTER: U.Va. Health owes clarity to transplant patients
By Nathaniel Carter | 3 days agoUnfortunately, this negative press is fully the fault of U.Va. Health — it failed to address significant stakeholder concerns when crafting its justification.
EDITORIAL: Upholding medical amnesty is a collective effort
By Editorial Board | 4 days agoUniversity leadership, Greek life organizations and students themselves must recommit to the safety provided by an effective and knowledgeable use of medical amnesty.
