PDA

View Full Version : India again No. 1 in US varsity enrolments



sushilsehrawat
November 5th, 2003, 06:00 PM
India again No. 1 in US varsity enrolments

S. Rajagopalan
Washington, November 3

India is No. 1 in US university enrolments---for the second year in a row. Defying the overall trend of near zero growth, India has actually sent far more students to the American campuses during 2002-03 ---74,603 (up from the previous year's 66,836).

A year ago, India surpassed China as the US's "leading country of origin of foreign students". It has now expanded the lead by sending 12 per cent more students, despite the new visa regime and the economic crunch. China's tally is 64,757, up by a mere 2 per cent.

With the latest upsurge, Indians now account for a good 13 per cent of the 586, 323 international students enrolled this year, says the US Institute of International Education's 'Open Doors 2003' report. The Indian student population in the US has doubled over the last seven years, it says.

The US authorities are delighted at this increase, pumping large sums of money into the slump-hit American economy. According to the report, foreign students on the whole contribute $ 12 billion annually to the US economy. Higher education is indeed the US's fifth larger services sector export.

Says Jane E. Schukoske, executive director of US Educational Foundation in India: "The increase in Indian students in the US is good news for both countries. Indian students are contributing talent to the US, and bring home cutting-edge skills to the Indian workforce."

What is fuelling the Indian growth? In Prof Schukoske's view, it is because Indian tendency to respect and invest in higher education as a pathway to family success and contribution to society. Some other experts see it as the logical outcome of the increasingly competitive atmosphere in India.

In overall terms, the Open Doors survey has reported significant drops in new student admissions from many countries. Much of this is attributed to the stringent visa regulations clamped after the 9/11 terror strikes. The hefty hike in tuition fees across the US has only exacerbated the situation.

The drop in foreign students is pronounced in the case of Muslim nations, notably Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Egypt. A 6 per cent drop has been reported from Pakistan, which has sent a total 8,123 students.

More than the policies, it is a perception about them that has affected the numbers, says IIE's vice-president Peggy Blumenthal. In the Indian instance, however, Schukoske for one believes that the visa issuance system is working well.

Indian students are spread all over the US, including its Ivy League and other prestigious centres---Harvard, MIT, Stanford, Princeton, Rutgers and Columbia. The 'Big Apple' has the biggest concentration of foreign students---New York University and Columbia University, between them, have over 36,000 foreign students.

The report speaks of a 6 per cent dip this year in the popularity of computer science and mathematics courses. Among the foreign students, the most popular programmes are business and management (20 per cent) and engineering (17 per cent).