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For Foreign Students, Top Choice in US: USC

July 1st, 2010 at 05:30am Under Education report

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This is the VOA Special English Education Report.

The number of international students in the United States is at record levels. Last year, more than six hundred seventy thousand foreign students attended an American college or university.

And for the eighth year the school with the largest number was the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.

U.S.C. has about six thousand six hundred international students in regular academic programs. One in four graduate students and one in ten undergraduates come from other countries.

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In a special class, international students meet with American students and learn about American life, says instructor Vincent Vigil.

VINCENT VIGIL: “We are able to have them interact with American students, but then also ask them any sort of simple questions that you may ask another person: ‘What do you like to do for fun? Why did you choose U.S.C.? What do you do on the weekends?’ Just simple things so that way they get to understand what it means to be an American student.”

Sports fans know the University of Southern California for its athletics, but students say they come for the strong academic programs. “Star Wars” director George Lucas got his start at the U.S.C. film school.

The university’s ties are strongest with Asia. A Japanese student was in the class of eighteen ninety.

Tony Tambascia, director of the office of international services, says U.S.C. actively seeks international students.

TONY TAMBASCIA: “We currently have students from about one hundred fifteen different places of origin around the world. India is first with over fifteen hundred students.  We have almost as many from mainland China.”

Yuan Si Zhao, from Beijing, is working on her master’s degree in communication management.

YUAN SI ZHAO: “I have lots of friends that came to U.S.C. That is the main reason I wanted to come. And then, one of my family friends actually recommended this school when I was little.”

Some students come to study business or liberal arts or to attend the university’s highly rated engineering school.

Indian engineering student Rahul Khola says the international student population was part of the school’s appeal. California’s climate is also appealing. But another engineering student from India, Bikramjeet Singh Grewal, says he does not have time for much fun in the sun.

BIKRAMJEET SINGH GREWAL: “Because sometimes you are busy and sometimes your friends are busy. Sometimes your professors make you busy.”

Foreign students not only give schools more applicants to choose from, they also provide money. Undergraduate students from other countries usually pay full tuition at American colleges and universities. Only a small percentage receive financial aid.

And that’s the VOA Special English Education Report, with reporting by Mike O’Sullivan in Los Angeles. Check out our Foreign Student Series for those interested in studying in the United States. Click on the link at voaspecialenglish.com. You can also follow us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and iTunes at VOA Learning English. I’m Steve Ember.

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A Review of Education Reports This Past Year

March 26th, 2010 at 07:56am Under Education report

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What Do You Want To Know About Education in the United States?

This is the VOA Special English Education Report.

Early this year, Special English began receiving comments about all the stories on our Web site.  The Education Reports have received many comments.

We began the year in the middle of our Foreign Student Series.  These were reports about how foreign students could attend a college or university in the United States.

The report that received the most comments–seventy-three–told how to qualify for free training at an American community college. The next highest number of comments was forty-nine.  They were about a report on services at American colleges that help foreign students adjust to studying in the United States.  Close behind with forty-eight comments was a report about financial aid.  Forty-seven comments followed a story about college student grade expectations. And forty-six people wrote in reaction to our guide to writing college papers.

Other education stories this past year included the deaths of college test preparation pioneer Stanley Kaplan and music educator Bess Lomax Hawes.  We explained the work of school nurses. We presented comments about American high schools from foreign exchange students.  We discussed the California digital textbook program as well as the use of digital textbooks in general. We talked to education experts about teaching handwriting, choosing a college, and publishing research in medical journals.  And we looked at the job market for American college graduates as well as for foreign students who finish their educations at American colleges.

In the coming year, we would also like your help.  Please write with suggestions or questions you would like us to answer about American education.  Earlier this month, for example, we answered a question about educational technology.

And we are preparing to answer a few other questions. One is about educator John Dewey.  Another is about the United States Military Academy at West Point.

Post your comments and questions at our Web site, voaspecialenglish.com. You can also find transcripts, MP3s and podcasts of our programs, including our Foreign Student Series. We wish you all the best in the New Year, and look forward to hearing from you.

And that’s the VOA Special English Education Report, written by Nancy Steinbach.  I’m Shirley

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