International Applications to U.S. Grad Schools Strongest Since '07

For the fifth consecutive year, the number of international students applying to U.S. graduate schools has risen. This year, U.S. schools experienced 7 percent growth in foreign applications, the largest gain since 2007, according to the Council of Graduate Schools (CGS). Most of the growth came from applicants in China (19 percent increase) followed by the Middle East and Turkey (18 percent). Graduate applications from students in India decreased by 2 percent.

The CGS report finds the majority of all international graduate students at U.S. institutions are enrolled in three broad fields and international applications increased in each of those fields in 2010. They include engineering (up 7 percent), physical and earth sciences (up 10 percent), and business (up 8 percent). Additionally, the survey finds graduate applications increased at doctoral institutions by 8 percent, but fell by 21 percent at master's-focused institutions.

Whether or not the uptick in international graduate applications translates to an increase in first-time enrollment remains to be seen. While the authors find no clear-cut relationship between applications and first-time enrollment when examining data from the past four years, the data shows that in each of the last four years, the increase in first-time graduate enrollment has been equal to or less than the increase in applications.

The 2010 CGS International Graduate Admissions Survey, Phase I: Applications collects data from 505 US. colleges and universities, all of which are CGS members. A total 240 institutions responded to the survey. The full report is available at: http://www.cgsnet.org/portals/0/pdf/R_IntlApps10_I.pdf