中國赴美研究生數量10年來首降

The number of Chinese students enrolling in US graduate schools fell for the first time in at least a decade, according to a report from the US Council of Graduate Schools published on Wednesday.

根據美國研究生院委員會(US Council of Graduate Schools)週三公佈的一份報告，在美國研究生院註冊的中國留學生數量出現至少10年來首次下滑。

The 1 per cent drop in first-time enrolments of students from China in 2014 “affects a relatively large number of students since Chinese students constitute 33 per cent of total enrolment of international graduate students in the US”, the Council said.

該委員會表示，在美國研究生院首次註冊的中國學生數量今年減少1%，這“涉及到的學生人數相對較多，因為中國學生佔在美註冊的國際留學生總數的33%”。

The decline was offset by a large jump in first-time enrolments of students from India, which rose 27 per cent in 2014 on top of a 40 per cent rise in 2013. First-time enrolment of students from Brazil increased 91 per cent this year after a 17 per cent increase in 2013, the report said. Enrolment from South Korea and Taiwan declined 7 per cent and 8 per cent respectively in 2014.

在美國研究生院首次註冊的印度學生數量的大幅增加抵消了上述影響，去年增加40%，今年再增加27%。報告稱，來自巴西的研究生數量今年增加91%，去年增加17%。來自韓國和臺灣的研究生數量今年分別減少7%和8%。

Overall, first-time enrolments of international graduate students rose 8 per cent between 2013 and 2014, and total graduate enrolment rose by the same percentage.

總體來看，2013年至2014年，首次註冊的國際研究生數量增加8%，在美研究生總數增幅與此相同。

Chinese education experts said the decline in Chinese enrolments, the first since the Council began surveying international student numbers in 2004, may reflect the impact of China’s anti-corruption campaign, which has hit the personal wealth of government officials who previously used ill-gotten gains to finance overseas education.

中國教育專家表示，中國留學生數量下滑可能反映出中國反腐運動的影響，這場運動打擊了那些之前利用非法所得支付海外留學費用的政府官員的個人財富。這是自該委員會2004年調查在美國際研究生數量以來中國留學生數量首次下跌。

Employment trends in China are also changing, with overseas graduates increasingly struggling to gain jobs that repay the substantial investment of a foreign education, recruitment experts say.

招聘專家表示，中國的就業趨勢也在發生變化，海外留學生越來越難找到工作，來償還海外留學的巨大投資。

Beijing has been investing heavily in improving domestic graduate schools in recent years, which also may also be keeping more students at home, according to education experts.

教育專家表示，最近幾年，中國一直大舉投資，改善國內研究生院，這可能也在將更多學生留在國內。

However, Xiong Bingqi, vice-president of the 21st Century Education Research Institute in Beijing, said the decline was the result of global graduate school trends.

然而位於北京的21世紀教育研究院(21st Century Education Research Institute)副院長熊丙奇表示，中國留學生數量下滑是全球研究生院（招生政策）趨勢的結果。

“The main reason why fewer Chinese students are enrolled by American universities is the rising threshold for applications and the fact that there are more opportunities offered from other countries such as Australia, and in Europe,” he said. “Scholarships have always been a big issue for postgraduate students but now American schools are cutting scholarships. If schools in other countries offer big scholarships, it would affect the students’ interest in going to the US.”

“在美國大學註冊的中國研究生數量減少的主要原因是申請門檻提高以及下列事實，澳大利亞和歐洲等其他國家提供的機會增多，”他表示，“獎學金一直是研究生的一個重要問題，但現在美國院校正削減獎學金。如果其他國家的學校提供高額獎學金，這將影響那些有意赴美留學的學生。”

It is not clear whether the decline in Chinese graduate students will be matched by a drop in undergraduate enrolments. Figures are due out next week from the US Institute of International Education, which will cover foreign students in all US colleges and universities.

目前還不清楚，赴美留學的中國本科生數量是否也會出現下滑。美國國際教育研究所(US Institute of International Education)將於下週公佈資料，資料將涵蓋在美國所有院校就讀的外國學生。