赴美留學新生減少 美大學仍看重中國生源

最新調查顯示，在2018-19學年，美國國際學生的總人數創下近110萬人的歷史新高，但新生入學人數卻連續第三年出現下降。美國名校負責人表示，非常看重中國生源，希望能持續吸引中國留學生前往。

California remains the top US destination for foreign students, who primarily come from China and India, with enrollment dipping slightly in the 2018-19 school year for the first time in at least a decade, according to a survey released Monday.

11月18日發佈的一項調查顯示，加州仍然是美國最受歡迎的留學目的地，這些留學生主要來自中國和印度。在2018-19學年，加州的入學人數出現了至少10年來的首次小幅下降。

Nationally, new enrollments of international students declined for the third year in a row although overall numbers are at a record high of nearly 1.1 million, according to a survey of 2,800 US colleges and universities released by the Institute of International Education and the US State Department.

美國國際教育協會和美國國務院聯合發佈的一項針對美國2800所高等院校的調查顯示，美國國際學生總體人數達到創紀錄的近110萬人，但是新入學人數連續第三年下降。

The number of students from China, who account for one-third of all international students in the United States, increased by 1.7% while those from India grew by 2.9%.

中國留學生佔美國留學生總數的三分之一，增長1.7%，印度留學生增長2.9%。

Some university officials have questioned whether the Trump administration’s harder line on immigration and China is driving international students toward more welcoming environments in other countries.

一些大學負責人質疑，特朗普政府在移民和中國問題上的強硬立場，是否正促使國際學生前往其他就學環境更友好的國家。

But US college costs are the single largest concern expressed by prospective foreign students and their families, Allan E. Goodman, the Institute of International Education’s president, said in a recent teleconference to preview the report.

不過，國際教育協會主席艾倫·E·古德曼在最近一次預審該報告的電話會議上表示，潛在的留學生及其家人最關注的是美國大學的費用。

A 2017 survey by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development found that the average US public college tuition was the highest among some 35 member nations surveyed — about $8,200 annually, more than twice as high as the average.

經合組織2017年的一項調查發現，在接受調查的約35個成員國中，美國公立大學的平均學費最高，約爲每年8200美元（約合人民幣5.76萬元），是平均水平的兩倍多。

UCLA and UC Berkeley, the leading US public universities, charge about $44,000 annually for foreign students compared with less than $10,000 at their top public counterpart in Japan, Tokyo University.

美國名牌公立大學加州大學洛杉磯分校和加州大學伯克利分校對留學生的收費約爲每年4.4萬美元，而日本頂級公立大學東京大學的收費不到1萬美元。

Caroline Casagrande, deputy assistant secretary of State for academic programs, said new student enrollment began declining in 2015 under the Obama administration and has begun to stabilize. The number of new undergraduates decreased at a slower rate in 2018-19 than in the previous two years while graduate students increased.

美國國務院負責學術項目的副助理國務卿卡洛琳·卡薩基德表示，新生入學人數在2015年奧巴馬政府執政期間開始下降，現在已經開始穩定下來。與前兩年相比，2018-19學年本科生新生人數下降速度較慢，而研究生人數則有所增加。

California continues to attract the most international students — 161,693 — with six of the nation’s top 20 host universities located in the state. USC remained the most popular campus, enrolling 16,340 foreign students in 2018-19, followed by 11,942 at UCLA, 10,652 at UC San Diego, 10,063 at UC Berkeley, 8,064 at UC Irvine and 8,048 at UC Davis.

加州繼續吸引着最多的國際學生（16萬1693人），全美排名前20的大學中有6所位於加州。南加州大學仍然是最受歡迎的大學，在2018-19學年招收了16340名留學生，其次是加州大學洛杉磯分校（11942名）、加州大學聖地亞哥分校（10652名）、加州大學伯克利分校（10063名）、加州大學歐文分校（8064名）和加州大學戴維斯分校（8048名）。

About 42% of the California foreign students are from China and 12.6% from India. Overall, international students helped boost the state economy by spending an estimated $6.8 billion on tuition, housing, food and other items, the report said.

加州約42%的留學生來自中國，12.6%來自印度。報告稱，總體而言，國際學生在學費、住房、食品和其他方面的支出約爲68億美元，幫助提振了該州的經濟。

Some smaller California campuses, such as the University of La Verne, have experienced dramatic declines in Chinese international students over the last few years.

加州一些規模較小的大學，如拉文大學，在過去幾年裏中國留學生人數大幅下降。

China remains key for USC, which opened a center in Shanghai last year to help Chinese students find jobs after graduating and returning home.

中國仍然是南加州大學的招生重點。去年，南加州大學在上海開設了一箇中心，幫助中國學生在畢業和回國後找到工作。

“We do feel like diversification is a good thing,” said Anthony Bailey, USC vice president for strategic and global initiatives. “But we hope to continue to have Chinese mainland students for many, many years to come. With the volume we have and the levels of talent that they have, we don’t think other markets are going to replace China and India. We think there’s more opportunity in both.”

南加州大學負責戰略和全球計劃的副校長安東尼•貝利說：“我們確實認爲多樣化是一件好事。但我們希望在未來的很多年裏繼續招收中國大陸的學生。以我們的規模和人才水平，我們認爲其他市場不會取代中國和印度。我們認爲兩國都有更多的招生機會。”

The 10-campus University of California system is moving to recruit more diverse students rather than significantly increase their numbers of foreign students.

擁有10個校區的加州大學正在採取行動擴大生源地，而不是大幅增加留學生的數量。

UC San Diego Chancellor Pradeep Khosla said international students will continue to flock to UC campuses because of their quality. But he said smaller colleges and universities might suffer under the Trump administration’s more restrictive immigration policies, and he urged the United States to keep out the welcome mat.

加州大學聖地亞哥分校校長普拉迪普·科斯拉說，由於教學質量優異，國際學生將繼續涌入加州大學。但是他說，在特朗普政府更加嚴格的移民政策下，規模較小的學院和大學可能會受到影響。他還敦促美國敞開大門歡迎留學生。

International students expose Americans to global perspectives, he said, and graduate students in particular are vital to the nation’s research enterprise and high-tech workforce.

他說，國際學生讓美國人接觸到全球視野，特別是研究生對美國的研究型企業和高科技勞動力至關重要。

“If we don’t keep them, Australia wants them. Canada wants them. Europe wants them,” Khosla said. “Talent will find the destination. The question is: Will it be the USA or not?”

他說：“如果我們不留住他們，澳大利亞想要他們，加拿大想要他們，歐洲也想要他們。人才自然能找到地方。問題是：會不會來美國？”