Govt spend behind rising Chinese nos?

Updated on: Tuesday, November 15, 2011

According to the Open Doors survey by the International Institute of Education, China has increased its student population in the US by 23% to about 158,000, pushing it to the top of foreign sources of students in the US in 2010-11.

Interestingly, India has jumped to 14th place as a destination for US students going overseas. At 3,884, US students in India have climbed by 44%, moving the country up from the 21st spot it had occupied the year before.

China remains the big favourite, with 13,910 US students opting for the Asian giant which is a rise of 2% from last year. The beeline for India and China is explained by the global interest in these two rising nations.

According to the study, the college campuses that reported increases in intake of international student also recorded an increase in foreign government sponsorships. This applies to a large number of students from China, said others familiar with the flow of international students to the US.

Indian students are overwhelmingly private citizens and depend on funding from scholarships and teaching assistantships. After the recession, many of these have dried up, and this may have had an effect on the student flow, they say. The Open Doors survey said almost 70% of the funding for international students comes from outside sources. The number of international students at colleges and universities in the US increased by 5% to 723,277 during the 2010-11 session. According to the report, this was a record high number of international students and the fifth straight year of increase—fast emerging as a major service sector earner for the US.

“Higher education is among the US’ top service sector exports, as international students provide significant revenue not just to the host campuses but the local economies of the host states in the form of living expenses, including boarding, books and supplies, transportation, health insurance, and support for accompanying family members,” the survey said.

The top 10 popular fields of study for international students in the US continue to be business and management (22%), engineering (19%), mathematics and computer science (9%), physical and life sciences (9%), social sciences (9%), fine & applied arts (5%), health professions (5%), intensive English language (5%), education (2%), humanities (2%) and agriculture (1%).

Govt spend behind rising Chinese nos?

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