Bloomberg.com

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aQuXNPrax8Pk

College Students Travel More, to the U.S. and Abroad, IIE Says

By Paul Basken



November 13, 2006

(Bloomberg) -- U.S. college students are studying abroad in record numbers, including a 53 percent increase in those going to India and 35 percent more going to China, the Institute of International Education said in an annual report.

The report found both an 8 percent increase in U.S. students going abroad in 2004-05, with higher growth outside traditional European destinations, and an 8 percent increase in new foreign students enrolled last year at U.S. universities.

The findings reflect both eased U.S. travel restrictions and a greater sense among U.S. students of the value of international expertise, according to the institute, a New York-based education and training organization.

``American students are realizing that to be a professional in the 21st century, it's going to be an advantage if you have language skills, if you have cross-cultural skills, in the countries that are the hot economies in the world,'' said Peggy Blumenthal, the group's executive vice president.

More than 200,000 U.S. students studied abroad in the 2004- 2005 school year, the most ever, said the federally funded institute, which conducts annual surveys involving more 3,000 colleges.

In a separate survey, the institute counted 564,766 foreign students enrolled in the 2005-2006 year at U.S. universities, the seventh straight year with the figure exceeding a half million.

Visa Delays Reduced

The number of new foreign students increased 8 percent to 142,923, helped by U.S. government efforts to reduce visa delays and make clear to foreigners that they remain welcome after the September 2001 attacks, the report said.

``Those perceptions have lingered long after the situation had actually improved on the visa lines,'' Blumenthal said. ``So one step was streamlining the visa review process, and the second was making sure that the word was out.''

The increases are critical to U.S. economic competitiveness, U.S. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings said before departing last week on a nine-day trip to Asia to encourage more travel by U.S. and foreign students.

U.S. companies need foreign expertise, especially in the sciences, and they need U.S. workers who can operate in different cultures and languages, Spellings said.

``Those issues are becoming more and more important every day, both in terms of our civic societies and in terms of economic development,'' said Spellings, who is visiting China, Japan and South Korea accompanied by a dozen heads of U.S. universities, including Johns Hopkins, Ohio State and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Western Europe

Almost half of U.S. college students abroad still go to Western Europe, the institute said. The numbers, though, are ``increasing rapidly'' elsewhere, including India, up 53 percent to 1,767; Argentina, up 53 percent to 2,013; China, up 35 percent to 6,389; Brazil, up 28 percent to 1,994; and Chile, up 12 percent to 2,393, it said.

Western countries now receiving fewer U.S. students include ``perennial favorite'' Britain, down 0.5 percent to 32,075; and Australia, which after several years of increases fell 5 percent to 10,813, the report said. Cuba, Russia and the Netherlands fell out of the top 20 list, it said.

Australia is ``a great experience for the students,'' Blumenthal said. ``Whether this is really going to advance their careers? Less likely.''

Parents, who cover college costs for their children, and the colleges themselves, which increasingly promote their international affiliations, appear to be making similar calculations, she said.

Declining Share

``It's become something that students expect, and therefore universities and colleges are providing it,'' she said.

U.S. universities, while still the world's leading draw for foreign students, are capturing a declining share of the global total, the 30-nation Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development reported in September.

That's due in part to countries such as China and India building higher-quality universities as they recognize their economic value, the OECD said.

``We all need to run faster, do more and better,'' Spellings said before her Asia trip.

Still, the U.S. remains home to the world's premier institutions, Spellings said. ``It is important that we do go and tell the world our story,'' she said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Paul Basken in Washington at pbasken@bloomberg.net