The Global Educational Exchange Market Posted by Adam Blickstein

Leaving your country of origin for educational purposes is becoming more popular, both in terms of American universities seeking to admit more international students and Americans studying abroad:

More U.S. students are studying abroad than ever before, and they're choosing an increasingly diverse array of destinations, a new report says.

A record 241,791 U.S. students went abroad for academic credit in 2006-07, up 8% from the previous year, and nearly 150% more than a decade earlier, the report says. It was released today by the Institute of International Education, a non-profit New York-based group that tracks international enrollment trends with U.S. State Department funding.

Besides the questionable tactic of independent, non-collegiate organizations acting as "recruiting agents" in China, India and elsewhere to attract students to study stateside, both trends are welcome developments, another sign that a sense of international mobility is a real backbone of the millennial generation. The international educational experience serves a multitude of purposes besides personal enrichment, not only diversifying local, concentrated academic communities, but also introducing greater cultural diversity and variable experiences to the student's country of origin. In fact, after years of decline, 2007/2008 saw a 7% increase from the previous academic year for students coming to the U.S. to study, accounting for $15.5 billion in revenue. More interesting figures can be found here, but to me the most important point is not necessarily the geographic diversity of international students coming to the U.S. to study, but the economic diversity.  While the cultural distinctions are tangibly strong between America and the cultures of China and India and Japan, where most foreign students come from, the lack of class distinction is also an critical factor. With a majority of both American students (who can afford to do so) going abroad and international students coming to the U.S. being from a more affluent background (a full 62% of students coming to the U.S. to study use personal and family money to fund their studies), this probably tends to blur the important cultural distinctions to a degree.  This potentially negates some of the beneficial societal aspects of international student cross-pollination. But in the end, the fact that more students are coming to the U.S. to study (still down from its high point in 2002 as a percentage of the total U.S. student population) while more Americans are going abroad for some period of their college life yields a net-gain of beneficial outcomes, building more intertwined cross-cultural links and broader international awareness.

Comments

[Jonathan Kroner, JD, MBA]

Interesting post and statistics. Your statement that affluent backgrounds "probably tend to blur the important cultural distinctions" is surprising to me. What "important cultural distinctions" do you refer to?
Thank you
Jonathan Kroner, JD, MBA

[fake Gucci Earings]

If you have a TypeKey or TypePad account, please Sign In

You are currently signed in as (nobody). Sign Out