中國學生激增推動赴美留學生總數破記錄

Staff from Northern State University have traveled to China, South Korea, Vietnam, India and Europe in recent years to help the South Dakota school grab a slice of an increasingly lucrative market: foreign students.

美國北方州立大學(Northern State University)的教職工近年來曾到過中國、韓國、越南、印度和歐洲等地，幫助位於南達科他州的這所大學從一個越來越有利可圖的市場搶得一點份額。這個市場就是：外國留學生。

'We're just working to have students aware of our small university,' said James Smith, the school's president.

該校校長史密斯(James Smith)說：我們正努力讓學生們知道我們這所規模不大的大學。

Such efforts appear to be paying off. The number of international students in the U.S. rose to a record last year, fueled by a significant rise of undergraduates from China.

此類努力似乎正在帶來回報。在來自中國的本科生數量大幅上升的推動下，美國的國際學生數量去年升至有史以來最高水平。

In the school year ended in May, 819,644 foreign students studied in the U.S., up 7.2% from the previous year, according to an annual report released Monday by the Institute of International Education, a nonprofit organization.

根據非營利組織國際教育協會(Institute of International Education)週一發佈的年度報告，在截至今年5月的學年，有819,644名外國學生在美國學習，較前一年上升7.2%。

The number, which includes undergraduate and graduate students, represents the seventh increase in a row and the steepest rise in four years.

這一數字既包括本科生也包括研究生，這已經是這一數字連續第七年增長，也是四年來最快的增長速度。

Foreign students account for 3.9% of the overall student population, according to the education nonprofit.

據國際教育協會的數據，外國學生佔學生總數的3.9%。

The proliferation reflects continued aggressive recruiting by U.S. schools, which see full-pay foreign students as cash cows at a time of decreasing public subsidies, flattening tuitions and a falling number of U.S. high-school seniors. About two-thirds of international students in the U.S. pay their own way, and most aren't eligible for U.S. government aid programs.

外國學生數量激增表明，美國學校繼續執行積極的招生政策。在公共補貼減少、學費持平、美國高中畢業生數量減少之際，它們把全自費外國學生當作現金來源。在美國的國際學生有大約三分之二全部自費，而且大多數人都沒有資格參加美國政府補助項目。

International students pump an estimated $24 billion into the U.S. economy, but the bounty isn't evenly distributed. Nearly 70% of the students are concentrated in about 200 schools, said Allan E. Goodman, the nonprofit's president and chief executive. 'We do have 4,000 accredited colleges,' he said. We have 'room to expand.'

國際學生爲美國經濟注入了大約240億美元的資金，但這些錢並不是均勻分佈的。國際教育協會主席兼首席執行長古德曼(Allan E. Goodman)說，將近70%的學生集中在大約200所學校裏。他說：我們有4,000所合資格的學校，我們還有拓展空間。

Of the top 25 schools, which attract 21% of foreign students, 18 are public universities.

在排名最靠前的25所學校當中，18所是公立大學。這25所大學吸引了21%的外國學生。

The top four -- the University of Southern California, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Purdue University and New York University -- each drew more than 9,000 foreign students.

排名最靠前的四所學校分別是南加州大學(University of Southern California)、伊利諾伊大學厄巴納-香檳分校(University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)、普渡大學(Purdue University)和紐約大學( New York University)，每所大學都吸引了超過9,000名外國學生。

The states of Massachusetts, Indiana and Pennsylvania saw some of the fastest growth, said Rajika Bhandari, the nonprofit's deputy vice president for research and evaluation. Driving that expansion are marketing organizations created by several statewide consortia of schools designed to sell themselves to international students.

國際教育協會負責研究和評估的副主席班達裏(Rajika Bhandari)說，馬薩諸塞、印第安納和賓夕法尼亞等州的增速最快。促進這種擴張的，是一些州內學校聯合體創設的營銷組織，其目的就是要向國際學生推銷自己。

At Northern State in Aberdeen, S.D., foreign students pay the out-of-state rate of more than $15,000 a year for tuition, room and board, plus an international-student fee of about $100 a semester. The school has consistently hosted about 200 international students sprinkled among its 3,300-student body.

在南達科他州阿伯丁(Aberdeen)的北方州立大學，外國學生每年要交15,000美元的學費和食宿費，這是面向州外學生的收費標準。另外，外國學生每一學期還要交大約100美元的國際學生費。該學校的國際學生數量一直在200名左右，而該校的學生總數爲3,300名。

To increase that number, the school has promoted free-application periods for students, Mr. Smith said. He added that international students add diversity to a mostly homogenous campus and that studying in the U.S. is 'a great educational opportunity for these students.'

史密斯說，爲了增加國際學生的數量，該校爲學生提供了免費申請時段。他還補充說，國際學生爲該校大體而言由同一類學生組成的校園增加了多樣性，在美國學習對這些學生來說是一個非常好的教育良機。

Chinese students in particular are a gold mine. Last year, there were 235,597 Chinese students in the U.S., including a 26% uptick in undergraduates, according to the report. There also were significant increases of students from Brazil and Saudi Arabia, driven by scholarship programs offered by those nations' governments.

中國學生更是一座金礦。這份報告說，去年，在美國學習的中國學生有235,597名，其中本科生的數量上漲了26%。來自巴西和沙特阿拉伯的學生的數量也大幅增加，因爲這些國家的政府提供了獎學金項目。

India and South Korea, the second and third largest countries of origin for foreign students, both sent fewer students as the Indian economy stalled and South Koreans began to take advantage of study-abroad programs in China and other Asian countries, Ms. Bhandari said.

班達裏說，印度和韓國分別是第二和第三大外國學生來源國，不過隨着印度經濟陷入停滯，以及韓國開始享受中國和其他亞洲國家的留學項目，來自這兩個國家的學生數量減少。

According to a survey published last week, new foreign enrollment at U.S. graduate schools rose 10% to 71,418 students this fall. That was the strongest annual growth since 2006, according to the annual survey of 285 members of the Council of Graduate Schools.

據上週發佈的一份研究報告顯示，今年秋季，美國研究生院外國新生數量增長10%，達到71,418人。對美國研究生院委員會(Council of Graduate Schools)的285個成員進行的年度調查顯示，這是2006年以來的最大年度增幅。

International students overwhelmingly gravitate toward business and the sciences. Nearly half of all Chinese students are studying either business or engineering. Indian students are more heavily concentrated in engineering, math and computer science.

國際學生主要選擇的是商科和理科專業。差不多半數的中國學生不是學商科就是學工科。印度學生更傾向於學工科、數學和計算機科學。

U.S. students also continue to head overseas in growing numbers. During the 2011-12 academic year, 283,332 Americans traveled abroad to study, a 3% increase from a year earlier, according to the report. The top four destinations for American students were in Europe, with the U.K. topping the list, followed by Italy, Spain and France. The fifth most popular destination was China, with nearly 15,000 students heading there.

到國外去學習的美國學生數量也越來越多。這份報告顯示，在2011-12學年，283,332名美國學生到國外留學，較前一年增長了3%。美國學生前往的四大目的地全部位於歐洲，排名最高的是英國，接下來是意大利、西班牙和法國。排在最受歡迎目的地第五名的是中國，有大約15,000名美國學生到中國學習。