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China Passes India as Top Country Sending Students to US

December 17th, 2010 at 12:07am Under Education report

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This is the VOA Special English Education Report.

This week, the Institute of International Education in New York published its yearly report on international students in the United States. The report says more than six hundred ninety thousand attended American colleges and universities during the last academic year.

That number was a record high. It was an increase of three percent from the year before. But it was mainly the result of heavy growth from one country, China. China passed India as the top country sending students to the United States.

The president of the institute, Allan Goodman, says the economic crisis could have limited growth from other countries.

ALLAN GOODMAN: “Rates of increase for international students coming to America were a little bit slower in the last year and we think that reflects the global recession. And the number of Americans studying abroad declined a little bit. So we think that these flows are sensitive to things like wars, revolutions, recessions and natural disasters.”

The Institute of International Education publishes its report called “Open Doors” with support from the State Department. The latest report is for the academic year that ended this past June.

It says China sent more than one hundred twenty-seven thousand students. That was an increase of thirty percent over the previous year.

India was the top sending country for eight years. But last year it was in second place, followed by South Korea. Among the top sending countries, Japan showed the greatest decrease — a drop of fifteen percent.

For a ninth year, the University of Southern California in Los Angeles reported the largest number of foreign students — nearly eight thousand.

The most popular field of study for international students in the United States is business and management, followed by engineering.

But the report noted a nine percent decrease for intensive English-language programs. Allan Goodman says the reason may have been the recession. He says English-language training is often the most costly part for students beginning their studies.

But Mr. Goodman pointed to an increase in another area: the number of foreign students at the undergraduate level.

ALLAN GOODMAN: “Traditionally, study in America has been overwhelmingly at the graduate level. And in the past several years we’ve begun to see almost an equal interest by families in sending students here for undergraduate education, and I think that’s going to continue because America is really a unique country. We have four thousand accredited colleges and universities. International students make up only about three percent of our total enrollment.”

What that means, he says, is that there is a lot of room for growth.

And that’s the VOA Special English Education Report, written by Lawan Davis. I’m Steve Ember.

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Facing America’s High Dropout Rates

March 2nd, 2010 at 09:18am Under Education report

This is the VOA Special English Education Report.

Less than sixty percent of students now entering four-year American colleges are likely to graduate. The completion rate is lower than for almost any other wealthy country, and worst for poor and minority students.

A new book about America’s public universities explores the complex causes of the high dropout rate. The book is called “Crossing the Finish Line.”

President Obama wants the United States to again have the world’s highest percentage of college graduates by two thousand twenty. But to finish college, children first have to reach the starting line by getting there.

President Obama shakes hands with students after speaking at Wakefield High School in Arlington, Virginia

On Tuesday the president gave a nationally broadcast speech to students about the importance of staying in school. He spoke on the first day of classes at a high school in Virginia. He talked about personal responsibility, and used himself as an example of someone who overcame difficulties.

BARACK OBAMA: “My father left my family when I was two years old, and I was raised by a single mother who struggled at times to pay the bills and wasn’t always able to give us things the other kids had. There were times when I missed having a father in my life. There were times when I was lonely and felt like I didn’t fit in.”

But he told students that problems in their own lives should not stop them from learning.

BARACK OBAMA: “That’s no excuse for talking back to your teacher, or cutting class or dropping out of school. That’s no excuse for not trying.”

This was not the first presidential speech to students. Ronald Reagan spoke from the White House in nineteen eighty-eight. And George H.W. Bush spoke from a school in Washington in nineteen ninety-one.

But many conservatives criticized plans for the speech. Some called it “socialized education” or federal interference in local schools. Others feared it would be too political. Some schools decided not to show the speech. But the White House released the text on Monday, and that calmed a lot of critics.

On Sunday, on the CBS program “Face the Nation,” Education Secretary Arne Duncan said thirty percent of students do not graduate from high school. He called the dropout rate “staggering.” It represents more than a million students every year who entered ninth grade but did not complete twelfth grade.

The education secretary called the objections to the president’s speech “silly.” But he also said one of the activities suggested for students “wasn’t worded quite correctly.” It related to the goal of increasing college graduation rates. It suggested that students “Write letters to themselves about what they can do to help the president.” But after conservatives objected, the activity was changed to writing about personal goals.

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

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