The New Competition | Eastern North Carolina Now

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    The author of this post is Zack Fleming.

    Why do foreign students outnumber American students in many STEM graduate programs?

    On an ordinary Monday morning in a graduate industrial engineering class at North Carolina State University, one would expect to hear talk about statistical analysis, linear programming, or maybe the outcome of the previous weekend's football game. In reality, it is nearly impossible to discern the topics of conversation, unless you are fluent in Mandarin Chinese or Hindi.

    According to the National Foundation for American Policy's (NFAP) July 2013 Policy Brief, foreign students dominate many STEM graduate programs at American institutions of higher learning, and that is the case at N.C. State.

    Specifically, international students average more than 50 percent of the student population in the following U.S. graduate programs: electrical engineering, computer science, industrial engineering, economics, chemical engineering, and materials engineering. According to statistics published by the Institute of International Education, China, India and South Korea respectively are the top three senders of students to the U.S. for graduate education in science, engineering and math.

    Why do foreign students make up such a large percentage of our engineering, math, and science graduate programs?

    The answers to that question fall into two categories: reasons why U.S. students avoid the programs and reasons why foreign students, especially from Asia, flock to them.

    As to the first category, several higher education program administrators say that there simply aren't enough qualified students in the U.S. to support STEM graduate programs.

    In a July 2013 Inside Higher Ed. article, Leonid Tsybeskov, chair of the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at the New Jersey Institute of Technology, said "There's a relatively small number of high-quality domestic students who can be accepted into our master's and Ph.D. programs."

    In the same article, Jonathan Bredow, chair of the Electrical Engineering Department at the University of Texas at Arlington, saw the cause as a difference in choices. "Domestic students tend to be more interested in going out and getting a job right after a bachelor's degree. Some see a value of getting a master's degree but in terms of the Ph.D., I think it's largely seen as unnecessary."

    The evidence is strong that American students are, on average, less well prepared in science and math than are international students. Results from the 2012 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) show that students in the countries that send the most students to the United States for graduate education scored significantly higher in science and math assessments than their American counterparts. For example, the average mathematics score of fifteen-year-old students from Hong Kong was 561, from Shanghai, 613, and from the United States, 487. In science the scores were 555 in Hong Kong, 580 in Shanghai, and 497 in the United States. Thus, there is more than a 10 percent knowledge gap between Chinese and American students before they even complete high school.

    Asian students, in particular, are not only well prepared, but eager to attend U.S. schools. The United States has a reputation for having some of the best institutions of higher learning in engineering, math, and science. According to the 2013 Academic Ranking of World Universities, which is published by researchers at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 13 of the top 15 universities in the world for engineering are located in the United States.

    Furthermore, countries like China and India are experiencing significant economic growth and development, and many foreign students see graduate education in the U.S. as the best preparation for success in this changing environment. The U.N.'s World Economic Situation and Prospects 2014 projects China's economic growth to continue at a pace of about 7.5 percent next year, while India is expected to maintain a 5 percent growth rate. The U.S. economic growth rate is expected to be around 2.5 percent for 2014.

    While some of this development is fueled by traditional manufacturing, major growth industries in China and India include information technology, telecommunications, infrastructure, and energy, and they need well-trained scientist and engineers. These careers typically offer lucrative salary and benefit packages and are well-respected professions.

    Recruiting of foreign students by domestic colleges and universities is also on the rise. According to a 2013 Inside Higher Ed. article "Going It Alone No Longer," U.S. schools are expanding their international student recruitment efforts, primarily through partnerships with foreign schools. This network creates an established pipeline for foreign students to easily transition into American institutions of higher learning.

    Some schools are going a step further and hiring private recruitment firms to identify and attract top foreign students.

    Foreign students provide a multitude of benefits to U.S. institutions.

• In the science, math and engineering realm, they provide a well-trained core of students who participate in major research projects and enable institutions to compete for grants and other research funding.
• Most foreign students pay full out-of-state tuition for at least some portion of their graduate education at public universities like N.C. State, thus generating more revenue for such schools than do students from their own states. While Ph.D. students are often funded by federal grants and fellowships, most foreign master's students must fund their own education in full. According to a 2012 U.S. News and World Report article titled "International Students Continue to Flock to U.S. Colleges, Grad Schools," an increasing number of international students are funding their own education, but private (foreign) sponsors and foreign employers also provide significant financial support.
• Foreign students in STEM graduate programs also help support an institution's image of multiculturalism and diversity.

    Clearly, a variety of factors have drawn international students into the American higher education system, and they may be crowding out U.S. students in the process. The impact of this influx of international students on the American economy is yet to be determined.