美國商學院加大海外招生力度

U.S. business schools, faced with a decline in applications from overseas, are stepping up international recruiting efforts to preserve what they say is an essential component of an institution's credibility.

Improved schools abroad, tougher employment prospects in the U.S., and the expense of attending an American school have led to fewer foreign applications at many programs, officials at several business schools say.

Overall, international enrollment at U.S. business schools dropped to 24.8% in the 2009-10 school year, down from 26.5% two years prior, according to the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, an accrediting body.

International enrollments have generally remained steady or increased at top schools, such as Harvard Business School and the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School. Harder hit are lesser-known schools.

At the University of Washington's Foster School of Business, international enrollment is just 16% for the class of 2012, its lowest in more than a decade.

U.S. schools seek high international enrollment because it helps boost the prestige and global credibility of their programs. An international student body helps recruiters portray the school as sophisticated and diverse, and it gives students the opportunity to cultivate overseas contacts.

Only 60% of international students' Graduate Management Admission Test reports now go to U.S. schools, down from three-quarters a decade ago. One reason is increasing competition from Asian schools, such as China Europe International Business School in Shanghai, Nanyang Business School in Singapore and Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.

The Foster School's international applications have fallen since 2007, particularly those from Korea and Japan, where companies have often sent employees overseas to full-time M.B.A. programs, says Dan Poston, assistant dean for master's programs. Mr. Poston cited the global downturn, as well as the school's shrunken endowment for scholarships, as reasons for the decline.

The international enrollment decline has potential to hit the business school's finances.

International students, like all out-of-state students, pay a higher tuition -- $37,419 this year -- than in-state students, who pay $25,101.

In an effort to bolster recruiting in Korea and Japan, the school is sending admissions officers on as many as six trips for its executive-education programs next year, up from two last year. The school has also added recruiting events in three Indian cities: Bangalore, Mumbai and Delhi.

It has budgeted more than $26,000 for the efforts next year, including additional trips to send career-services employees to interview promising applicants in person.

At Vanderbilt University's Owen Graduate School of Management, 35% of applicants for the class of 2012 came from outside the U.S. That's down from 39% for the class of 2008.

John Roeder, Owen's director of admissions, says it has become harder for international students to find a job in the U.S. after graduation, and that has deterred some of them from applying to U.S. schools.

Adeline Chong, a first-year M.B.A. student at CEIBS in Shanghai, says she considered New York University's Stern School of Business, Columbia University Business School and the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

But the bad job market in the U.S. convinced the Singapore native she would be better off elsewhere.

'When I began applying to business school, I had to consider the economic climate in the United States,' says Ms. Chong, 30 years old. 'I wondered how fast I would be able to get a job.'

Ms. Chong says she wants to pursue a career in telecommunications mergers and acquisitions, and plans to stay in Asia for at least a few years after graduating.

Owen last year began sending U.S.-based international alumni back to their home countries to meet with potential applicants. So far, they have sent four alumni to countries including Russia, Peru and Germany; it has budgeted about $10,000 a year for the effort.

While there, the alumni conduct presentations for groups of potential applicants. The school has also selected eleven other alumni in countries including Japan, Korea and India to represent the school at recruiting fairs.面臨海外留學申請減少的美國商學院正在加大國際招生工作力度，以維持他們所說的院校信譽的核心要素。

幾家商學院的管理人員稱，國外商學院教學質量的提高、日趨嚴峻的美國就業前景，以及美國商學院高昂的學費導致許多商學院收到的外國留學申請都有所減少。

根據認證機構國際精英商學院協會（the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business）公佈的數據，從整體上看，美國商學院的留學生報名率已從兩年前的26.5%降低到2009-2010學年的24.8%。

一流商學院的留學生報名率通常會保持穩定或逐漸增加，例如哈佛商學院（Harvard Business School）和賓夕法尼亞大學（University of Pennsylvania）沃頓商學院（Wharton School）。受打擊較大的是那些不那麼出名的商學院。

華盛頓大學（University of Washington）福斯特商學院（Foster School of Business）2012年的留學生報名率只有16%，這是十多年來的最低值。

美國商學院追求高留學生報名率，因爲這有助於提高其課程的聲望和全球信譽。有了國際化的學生羣體，招生人員可以向人們展示商學院高水平和多元化的形象，這同時也給了學生們提供培養海外關係的機會。

現在，只有60%的留學生的GMAT成績單報往美國商學院，比十年前的3/4下跌了不少。一個原因是來自亞洲商學院的競爭增加了，比如上海的中歐國際工商學院（China Europe International Business School）、新加坡的南洋商學院（Nanyang Business School）和香港科技大學（Hong Kong University of Science and Technology）。

福斯特商學院負責碩士課程的院長助理波斯頓（Dan Poston）稱，福斯特商學院收到的留學申請自2007年以來開始下降，尤其是來自韓國和日本的留學申請，這兩個國家的企業經常會將員工送往海外就讀全日制MBA課程。波斯頓談到留學申請下降的原因時，提到了全球經濟衰退，也提到了該院捐贈獎學金的減少。

留學生報名率下降有可能使美國商學院的財務狀況遭受重創。

像所有外州學生一樣，留學生要比本州島學生支付更高的學費──今年該商學院留學生的學費爲37,419美元，而本州島學生的學費爲25,101美元。

爲了改善在韓國和日本的招生情況，該商學院明年將分六次派出招生人員前往這些國家進行高管培訓班招生，而去年只派出了兩次。該商學院還在班加羅爾、孟買和德里這三座印度城市增加了招生活動。

明年該商學院的這項工作預算超過26,000美元，包括派出就業指導服務人員面試有希望的申請人所增加的差旅費。

2012年，申請就讀範德比爾特大學（Vanderbilt University）歐文管理學院（Owen Graduate School of Management）的人中有35%來自美國以外的國家，和2008年的39%相比有所下降。

歐文管理學院的招生總監羅德（John Roeder）稱，留學生畢業後在美國找工作變得更加困難，這也導致某些留學生不再申請美國商學院。

30歲的艾德琳·莊（Adeline Chong）是上海中歐國際工商學院（CEIBS）的一年級MBA學生，她說她考慮過紐約大學（New York University）斯特恩商學院（Stern School of Business）、哥倫比亞大學商學院（Columbia University Business School）和芝加哥大學（Columbia University）布斯商學院（Booth School of Business）。

但美國糟糕的就業市場讓這位新加坡學生確信去其它地方上學會更好。

莊說，當我開始申請商學院時，我必須考慮美國的經濟環境。我不知道自己多快能找到工作。

莊說，她希望找一份電信業併購的工作，並計劃畢業後至少在亞洲待上幾年。

歐文管理學院去年開始安排在美國工作的留學生校友回母國與有意申請者見面。迄今爲止，他們已安排了4位校友前往俄羅斯、祕魯和德國等國家。這項工作的預算約爲每年10,000美元。

在這些國家，這些校友對有意申請者們發表了演講。該商學院還選出另外11位日本、韓國和印度等國的校友代表該商學院參與招生活動。