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[alexking]

Eugene McCormack's story on July 21 follows the usual line of stories on this subject in recent years...  Foreign enrollments in US universities are up, following a major slump that ensued from 9/11.

What is hidden behind the relatively simple looks at the visa data that we have seen here and elsewhere, is a very different story that depends on what part of the world you come from.

The post 9/11 "slump" did not actually affect foreign enrollments from North America - but that is hardly surprising.

It had only a minimal effect, lasting about one year on enrollments from Europe.  These recovered to pre-9/11 levels by 2003, if not 2002.

It had a big effect on all other regions, but enrollments from Asia (notably China and India) started to bottom out after two or three years and have recovered to surpass pre-9/11 levels, even a year or two ago.

What has certainly not recovered is the number of foreign enrollments from the world's remaining regions (as defined by the US Dept of State):  North Africa and the Middle East; Sub-Saharan Africa; and South America.  The "9/11 effect" on students from these regions was originally even more catastrophic than for Asia, and it has not yet reversed, and may not even have bottomed out.  The numbers were smaller to begin with, but with ever greater statistical accuracy, the phrase "Foreign Students" is coming to mean "Chinese and Indian Students" exactly as it did in the title of Mr. McCormack's article.

America needs diversity in its foreign student enrollments, not merely numbers, for all sorts of wonderful and good reasons.  Let's see a little more attention to this part of the issue.

[lotsoquestions]

My understanding is that some of this rise is actually because of the low value of the American dollar and the fact that for students for many countries an American education is now a bargain. 

Not all American parents of college-age students would agree with you that rising numbers of foreign students is a sign of progress.  Some parents will tell you that a $45,000/yr. price tag for an American university is beyond their price range and is only really affordable for wealthy foreigners. 

The increasing foreign presence on college campuses is of particular concern for parents who may have been counting on their child being accepted to their own state's university, since that is the most affordable option for their family.  When you tell these parents that State University has just accepted an additional four percent of foreign students for the coming year, most want to know why their tax dollars are being used to subsidize foreign enrollments when the same university has no room for their children. 

[zharkov]

When you tell these parents that State University has just accepted an additional four percent of foreign students for the coming year, most want to know why their tax dollars are being used to subsidize foreign enrollments when the same university has no room for their children. 

Why wasn't their kid accepted?  The kid's HS GPA and SAT scores were not high enough. Almost all states have an excellent low cost "plan B" for this kid:  Attend the local community college, do well, and transfer to the state university system.

BTW, the actual state subsidies vary widely.  In some cases, the state subsidy just about pays for the in-state tuition discount.  That's it.  That means that out of state and foreign students are not being subsidized by this group of state universities.