Graduate schools see rise in global diversity

As Xiao Zhang sent out applications for graduate school, the business administration graduate student knew her next degree wouldn’t come from her undergraduate alma mater.

Growing up in Shanghai, she completed her undergraduate education in the country, but her graduate school search led her across the Pacific Ocean to MSU.

“I come from China, and I know there are many Chinese students (and) they also look for opportunities in Europe where they offer graduate education too, but United States is one of the best choices, we think,” Zhang said.

The second phase of a national three-part survey released by the Council of Graduate Schools, or CGS, shows U.S. graduate schools continue to attract more international graduate students such as Zhang, but the U.S. is losing its recruitment lead over other countries.

Although MSU tracks graduate enrollment closer than the application activity, international graduate student enrollment has been steady the last couple years, said Peter Briggs, director of the Office of International Students & Scholars.

“I think the weak U.S. dollar is certainly making U.S. higher education more attractive, but a lot of the graduates are going to come here and have funding from graduate departments,” Briggs said. “(The number of international graduate applications) is more related to the department funding that graduate departments have for assistantships.”

The CGS survey reported a 4 percent increase from 2007-08 in admission offers to international students from U.S. graduate schools, but the rate of increase decreased 2 percent.

In fall 2007, more than 2,200 of 8,265 graduate students came to MSU from outside the U.S., according to the Office of Planning and Budgets. Briggs said he expected numbers to be similar in 2008.

MSU, a member of the CGS, ranks among the top 25 universities with the largest number of international graduate student enrollment, said Stuart Heiser, public affairs manager for the CGS.

Briggs said final enrollment numbers for the 2008-09 academic year won’t be available for at least another month.

International students account for about 30 percent of the graduate student population in master’s and Ph.D programs, Karen Klomparens, dean of the Graduate School, said in an e-mail.

“MSU graduate programs tell me that the quality is equal to past applications for international students,” Klomparens said.

“The important point is whether there are enough quality applications for graduate study and there are.”

Published on Tuesday, August 26, 2008