Americans can be forgiven if they’ve come to think that the United States’ international standing is in decline. After all, various pundits already are questioning the value of President Barack Obama’s just-concluded overseas trip. The president, they say, failed to convince other nations to agree with him on several issues, a sure sign that U.S. prestige and power are waning. That conclusion is debatable, and it will take time to determine its validity. There is at least one area, however, where U.S. stature remains almost unassailable: Higher education.
U.S. colleges and universities remain a powerful attraction for international undergraduate and graduate students. The number at U.S. institutions of higher learning increased by 3 percent – to a record 690,293 – in the 2009-10 academic year, according to the annual Open Doors report released by the respected and objective Institute of International Education. By any measure, that’s a tribute to America’s system of higher education.
Clearly, the opportunity to learn in an environment where pursuit of knowledge in academic settings free of state influence or control finds resonance around the globe. Also telling are the fields of academic concentration favored by the international students. Business and management, engineering, physical and life sciences and math, widely viewed as areas of U.S. expertise and keys to success in a global economy, are the most popular.
It’s interesting to note, too, the recent change in the mix of international students here. For the first time, China, a rising world power, sent more students – about 128,000 – than any other nation. India, long the leader in number of students sent, was second with about 105,000. South Korea, Canada, Taiwan, Japan and Saudi Arabia round out the top seven. The number of students from the latter, where the government heavily subsidizes foreign study, increased 25 percent in 2009-10. Whatever their home, foreign students are a boon to educational institutions here.
They contribute, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce estimates, about $20 billion annually to the U.S. economy, primarily through tuition, living expenses, books and supplies and transportation. The financial impact is considerable, especially in California, New York and Texas, states with the largest populations of foreign students.
At a time when public and private colleges and universities face considerable and still growing economic pressures, the infusion of foreign funds is certainly a godsend.
Still, the influx of foreign students engenders some concern. The value those students assign to U.S. higher education is welcome. What is disconcerting is that a lot of home-grown students fail to share that appreciation. Consequently, many of the best and brightest that U.S. colleges and universities now produce might use their knowledge and skill in their native countries, either in jobs outsourced there by U.S. companies, or in jobs in companies that compete head-to-head with American companies. That’s a worrisome prospect in a global marketplace.