More U.S. Graduate Students From Abroad

The number of international graduate students in the U.S. has grown for the third straight year, up 8% in 2011–12 to 197,000, says a new report from the Council of Graduate Schools (CGS). Chinese students had the largest enrollment increase, 22% in 2011–12, marking the seventh straight year of double-digit enrollment hikes from that country. China now accounts for 37% of all U.S. graduate students from abroad, according to the report. Enrollment of students from the Middle East increased by 18% and Brazil by 14% in 2011–12. Meanwhile, the number of students from India and South Korea is starting to stabilize, the report shows. More international students came to U.S. universities in all fields, but increases were highest in business, at 15%, and engineering, at 12%. The physical sciences, including chemistry, had a 7% increase in 2011–12, continuing an upward trend that began in 2009. The report is a “sign that graduate students, and in many cases the countries that fund their studies, recognize the quality and return on investment provided by U.S. graduate degrees,” says CGS President Debra Stewart.