Citing a recent report by the Council of Graduate Schools (CGS), BusinessWeek this week reported that U.S. graduate schools’ admission offers to prospective international students fell sharply this year, the first decline in five years. On average, international admits declined by 3 percent, with several countries reporting double-digit declines, according to BW.
“The declines this year were steeper than I expected,” Nathan Bell, the author of the report and the council’s director of research and policy analysis, told BW. “It is very unlikely that we will see any increase at all in first-time enrollment of international students this fall, and that will be a shift from what we’ve seen.”
The declines came amid a 4 percent overall increase in international applications. Even so, the total number of international applications was still below 2003 levels at many of the schools surveyed. International students are applying in lesser numbers due to a combination of factors, including concern about post-graduation job prospects due to a reduction in the number of H-1B visas being issued and greater difficulty obtaining student loans.
According to the BW report, international students are increasingly considering business programs in Asia and Europe as an alternative to studying in the United States. This is especially true among students from India and South Korea, whose applications to U.S. schools declined by 12 percent and 9 percent respectively in 2009. Admissions offers to students in these countries likewise fell, down 16 percent in both.
Application rates for students from some countries, however, grew this year, offsetting the overall international decline, BW reports. Applications from students in China were up 14 percent, and 22 percent more students from the Middle East and Turkey applied this year over last. Without these bright spots, the overall 3 percent decline would have been much worse, BW pointed out.
To read the complete BusinessWeek story, click here. Also, don’t miss the transcript of a recent conversation between BW’s Francesca Di Meglio and Clear Admit co-founder Graham Richmond offering tips and advice for international applicants to U.S. MBA programs.
Read the full article: BusinessWeek Reports First Decline in International Admissions to U.S. Graduate Schools Since 2004