Archive for the ‘Higher Education in US’ Category
Graduation and enrollment rates of different schools and US college retention rates
Sink or Swim: A Guide to College Graduation Rates
(This interesting analysis is shared by Allison Morris who was part of the team which prepared this featured article).
College graduation usually conjures up images of black hats getting thrown into the air and refrains of pomp and circumstance. What you don’t see, however, is the swell who started at the same time as the robe-clad flock but aren’t graduating — a number that would triple the size of grads (and make the ceremony even longer). In fact, at four-year colleges only 31.3% of students actually graduate from the school. The other 68.7% might be sitting at home, working a job that doesn’t require a degree, or maybe they’re still chipping away at the books after switching majors or signing up for a lengthy program.
The latter is evident: The number swells to 56% who graduate within six years of starting. On the surface, it might seem like today’s student is lazy or lacks follow-through, but a closer examination reveals steep costs of schooling and family responsibilities a bigger decision-maker for college dropouts. Of course, the numbers vary widely across colleges, with some earning gold stars for graduating their students and others earning the nickname “dropout factories.” We take a closer look at the best and worst of 2-year and 4-year schools to help degree-seekers navigate to a college that will help them stay afloat.
For full story, please click the following link:
http://www.onlinecolleges.net/2013/04/29/sink-or-swim-college-graduation-rates/
Source: www.onlinecolleges.net
For second year, fewer Indian students went to US colleges
The US appears to be losing its draw as the destination of choice for Indian students looking to study abroad. In the 2011-2012 academic year, the total number of students from India attending US colleges and universities dipped for the second year in a row. Students from India make up approximately 13.1 per cent of the total foreign student population in the country.
The number of Indian students dipped 3.5 per cent from 103,895 in 2010-11 to 100,270 in 2011-12. A total of 104,897 students from India attended institutions of higher learning in the US in the 2009-2010 academic year, according to an annual report by the Washington DC-based Institute of International Education.
Majority of the Indian students study at the graduate (Master’s) level. Data culled from the report show that in 2011-12, 13 per cent of the students were undergraduates, 58.9 per cent were graduate students. Some 26.7 per cent students opted for Optional Practical Training.
India lost the top slot as the leading country of origin to China after the 2008-09 academic year.
In 2000-01, Indian enrolments surged 30 per cent, followed by two more years of strong growth (at 12 per cent in 2002-03 and 7 per cent in 2003-04). The increases tapered off in 2004-05 and then decreased slightly in 2005-06, before resuming much larger increases in 2006-07 and for the next two years. In 2009-10, the growth flattened, and China topped the list. It continues to retain the position.
This year, international exchanges (foreign students) contributed $22.7 billion to the US economy, despite the fact that international students constitute less than 4 per cent of total US higher education enrolment.
The report highlighted the fact that more than 70 per cent of all international students receive the majority of their funds from sources outside of the US, including personal and family sources as well as assistance from their home country governments.
Among the top 10 destinations, Pennsylvania, Florida and Indiana had the largest percentage increases, with the international student population in each state growing by close to 10 per cent. At the institutional level, the University of Southern California had the largest number of international students, followed by University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, New York University, Purdue University and Columbia University. The report is published annually by the Institute of International Education in partnership with US Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.
Source: The Hindu Business Line, December 19, 2012
US colleges cut fees in drive towards $10k degree
That American degree you so coveted and was unattainable because of high costs may not be so out of reach after all. Some US colleges have taken the first tentative steps to beat down soaring tuition fees by proposing a $10,000 (about Rs. 530,000) degree that also takes aim at the nearly trillion dollar college debt that the country has racked up.
The drive towards the $10,000 college degree will gee up students from India, more than 100,000 of who are enrolled in US colleges any given year. Although most Indian students come to the US for graduate studies, more and more are enrolling for four-year undergraduate degree, which some 10 Texas colleges are proposing to offer for as little as $10,000. Typical cost for a four-year undergraduate degree in a modest college for in-state US residents is around $30,000 (Rs. 1.6 million).
But Indian parents, the wealthier among who are sending their children to four-year undergrad colleges after their Class 12, can rack up more than $100,000 enrolling in elite US institutions. Higher education such as law degrees or two-year MBA degrees from top-ranked schools cost anywhere from $80,000 to $150,000.
While elite institutions and higher degrees may not feel the immediate effect, the first shot across soaring tuition fees in America has been fired by 10 modest Texas schools, following a challenge from the state governor Rick Perry to bring down costs. The 10 schools account for nearly 50,000 students, roughly 10% of undergrads at public universities in the state, according to the Wall Street Journal, among several outlets that described last month’s developments in this area.
First off the block is Angelo State University, a 7,000-student school in San Angelo in West Texas, which announced last week that it will offer a $10,000 degree starting next fall. Various schools of Texas Tech, Texas A&M University, and University of Texas have said they will follow suit. “A $10,000 degree provides an opportunity for students to earn a low-cost, high-quality degree that will get them where they want to go in their careers and their lives,” Texas Governor Rick Perry, who ran unsuccessfully for the Republican nomination for President, said in a statement.
Not everyone is chuffed about the development. Some have argued that the quality of education will suffer. Others have spoken of fudged numbers, with suggestions that the $10,000 target does not include variables such as campus housing and text books. Fee lowering has been attained in some cases by proposing expansion in the size of class rooms, shifting some courses online, and use of adjunct faculty who will be paid on a per-class basis.
Nevertheless, the drive to lower costs points to growing recognition in the US that education is going beyond the reach of poor and middle-class families, and students often enter the job market with a massive debt burden — a model India is also adopting with growing privatization of education. Both Republicans and Democrats have made this a talking point. Recent reports have shown that Americans owe nearly $1 trillion in student loans, substantially more than the $700 billion they owe in credit card debts.
Source: The Economic Times (Online Edition), October 9, 2012
No change in visa policy towards Indian students: US
The US has said that there is no change in its policy towards issuing visas to Indian students. “I don’t think we’ve changed our policy with regard to the way we interview applicants,” State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland told reporters at her daily news conference.
“I think what we are doing is making sure that the sponsoring organisations truly are what they say they are in the United States; that if they say that they are bringing students over to educate them, that they intend to educate them, not put them to work, et cetera,” she said.
Nuland said the US supports the recent initiative of opening community colleges in India on the pattern of those here. Last week, education ministers of four Indian States – Punjab, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, and Jammu and Kashmir, visited several US cities to have a first hand experience of the community colleges here.
“Well, obviously, we support this initiative. We have been working with the Indian side to flesh out the initiative that was agreed between the President and the Prime Minister through our Education Bureau here. And obviously, we are responsible for the visa issuance for the various folks studying in the United States,” Nuland said.
Number of Indian students enrolled in US colleges falls in 5 years
The number of Indian students enrolled in the US colleges and universities fell for the first time in five years in academic year 2010-11, according to a US report. Indian students, the second largest international cohort in the US, decreased by 1% to 104,000 while the Chinese grew to 158,000, or nearly 22% of the total international student population, the Open Doors report said. International students at US colleges and universities rose 5% to 723,277.
For Institute of International Education (IIE), the organisation which publishes the Open Doors report in partnership with the US Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, the fall in numbers of Indian students in the US is not very significant. IIE President & CEO Allan Goodman said there are twice as many Indian students enrolled in higher education in the US than in the next leading host country, the UK. They include the total number of Indian students who are currently in the US, including those who finish one level and move on to the next, and others who are on their two-year optional practical training period.
“A drop in this number shows among other things, a larger number of students leaving the US after their higher studies and a drop in the total graduate enrolments from India,” says Vijaya Khandavilli, an education consultant in Delhi. She said students going to US are now becoming more cost-conscious, choosy and brand aware. Goodman said the trend was probably a result of the economic slowdown and low employment rates in the US. “The US economy is now picking up and so are international student enrolments in the US. This is likely to show up in next year’s report,” says Rahul Choudaha, a New York-based education expert.
The report said China stood first for the second year in a row. South Korea came third with more than 73,000 students. “One reason for an increased flow of Chinese and Korean students to the US is probably their willingness to fund their own studies. Indian students, who enjoy a huge advantage over most other countries, in terms of English language skills, however are looking for scholarship options and could sometimes drop plans to study in the US if funds are not available,” says Daniel C. Levy, distinguished professor at the University of Albany.
Source: The Economic Times, November 14, 2011
MBA Admissions: Queues at top US B-schools turn shorter
The gangbuster growth of business school applications during the recession appears to be a thing of the past for two-year full-time MBA programs. This year, application volume was down at 21 of the top 30 full-time MBA programs, according to data collected by Bloomberg Businessweek. The decline in applications is a trend that appears to be accelerating, with eight additional schools reporting declines in application volume this year over 2010.
Applications were down at seven of the top 10 business schools, including the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business, Harvard Business School, and Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management.
Stanford saw the biggest dip in application volume of the top 10 schools, with 586 fewer applications this year, an 8 per cent decline from 2010. Still, some of the top 30 schools managed to buck the downward trend. Dartmouth University’s Tuck School of Business, University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business and University of California, Los Angeles’ Anderson School of Management, reported substantial increases in applications, with each school receiving more than 200 applications over last year’s total.
The downward spiral in application volume at the top 30 schools is mirrored in the business school world at large: 67 per cent of two-year full-time MBA programs surveyed by the Graduate Management Admission Counil (GMAC) reported a decrease in applications this year, up from 47 per cent in 2010. A skittish economy, coupled with candidates unwilling to leave their jobs, may be causing some to hold off applying to business school, GMAC noted in its latest survey of application trends. “The impact of economic uncertainty on admissions trends for full-time MBA programs may still be underway,” GMAC said in the report.
The smaller pipeline of MBA applications this year meant that getting into some of the top business schools has become easier. Two-thirds of the top 30 business schools admitted a larger percentage of applicants this year, up from one-third the year before. The University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management had the biggest slip in selectivity of the top 30 schools, admitting nearly 41 per cent of students, up from 30 per cent in 2010. More typical were the University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business and Brigham Young University’s Marriott School of Management, both of which saw selectivity slip five percentage points. Even Stanford, the most selective of the top 30 business schools, became slightly easier to get into, accepting 7 per cent of all applicants, up one percentage point from 2010.
Source: The Economic Times (Courtesy – Bloomberg Businessweek), October 21, 2011
Jindal, his firm gift $2.5 million to University of Texas
Industrialist and Member of Parliament Naveen Jindal and his company Jindal Steel and Power Ltd. (JSPL) have gifted US$ 2.5 million (about Rs. 122.5 million) to his alma mater, University of Texas at Dallas, following which the university renamed its school of management after him. Jindal, a 1992 batch alumnus, gifted $200,000 from his personal fortune while JSPL gave $2.3 million, the company said in a statement.
The university had said last week that Jindal, along with two other alumni, “contributed a combined gift of $30 million, the largest alumni gift in the university’s history.” Asked about reports of Jindal and his firm making a gift of $20 million to the university, the company said they had only given $2.5 million.
The JSPL statement said both Jindal and the firm “will contribute in future too” as this “will support Indian students through creation of scholarships and fellowships”. Employees of JSPL and its associate firms would be eligible for executive programmes at the university, the statement said. “The company’s contribution has been approved by board of directors, given JSPL’s commitment to education,” it added.
Source: The Indian Express, October 17, 2011
Indian students eye seat in US universities
With eyes set on an American university, students and parents gathered in numbers at the US education mission student fair held in Mumbai on Friday. Spokespersons of a host of American universities from 15 states assembled under one roof to help candidates clear doubts and students made the best of the opportunity.
Present at this session was the Director General of the US Foreign Commercial Service (USFCS) Suresh Kumar. “The need for education is universal and this is a platform to help students sitting in India to understand American universities better,” Kumar said. He added that one of the main reasons to host the education fair was to save students from applying to universities through agents and touts and to avoid any kind of problems later on.
“Candidates can clear all their doubts, including fees, and be assured that there’s no foul play involved,” he said. While the Indian government’s aim is to increase the percentage of students completing higher education, availability of education institutes poses a concern. Kumar stressed that with more and more American students eyeing Indian universities, availability of seats for Indian students might be in jeopardy. “It is therefore important to ensure that careers of students in India are secure and there has to be an increase not just on quantity but also on the quality of education,” said Kumar. The universities present at the education fair shed light on e-education and student exchange programs.
Niranjan Kasi, 20, was looking for universities offering courses in masters in finance. “Even though we have an array of websites that can give us any information we need, we are always scared to totally trust the information. By personally talking to officials from the universities, we get concrete information,” he said. The education fair also hosted a special session for students explaining to them the procedure that needs to be followed to obtain a student visa without any hassles.
“To know any information about education institutes in the US, one can always directly approach the consulate or the embassy,” Kumar said.
Source: The Times of India (Online Edition), October 15, 2011
Indians 2nd largest foreign student population in US
With more Indians flying to Ivy League institutions, the US State Department held a US-India Higher Education Summit meeting on Thursday at Georgetown University to promote the partnership between the countries. Indians are now the second-largest foreign student population in America, after the Chinese, with almost 105,000 students in the US in the 2009-10 academic year, the last for which comprehensive figures were available. Student visa applications from India increased 20% in the past year, according to the American Embassy.
Although a majority of Indian students in the US are graduate students, undergraduate enrolment has grown by more than 20% in the past few years. And while wealthy families have been sending their children to the best American schools for years, the idea is beginning to spread to middle-class families, for whom Delhi University has historically been the best option.
American universities have now become “safety schools” for increasingly stressed and traumatized Indian students and parents, who complain that one fateful event – the final high school examination – can make or break a teenager’s future career. This admission season, students exchanged exam horror stories.
One knew a boy who was sick with typhoid but could not reschedule. “I know a girl who saw the physics paper and she fainted,” said Nikita Sachdeva, her eyes widening. Nikita, 19, graduated from Delhi Public School in 2010, with a 94.5%, one point shy of the cut-off to study economics at St. Stephen’s, one of the top colleges at Delhi University. She decided to take a year off and work as an intern at a non-profit group affiliated with the WHO, while applying to American universities.
But for some students, it is not merely the competition that drives them to apply to study in the US. It is also the greater intellectual freedom of an American liberal arts education. India’s educational system is rigid, locking students into an area of study and affording them little opportunity to take courses outside their major beyond the 11th grade. Only a few courses of study are considered lucrative career paths.
Source: The Times of India, October 15, 2011
US to help Indian students make informed choice: Hillary Clinton
The US is expanding its advising services for Indian students to make sure they do not fall for “misleading offers” from dubious institutions and is also keen to encourage more American students to enroll in varsities in India, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said today.
Addressing the first ever India-US Higher Education Summit at the prestigious Georgetown University here, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the US wants the relationship between the two “great democracies” to be as interconnected as possible at every level and not just at the government to government level, which is just the beginning and “clearly not the most important and lasting collaboration that we seek.”
While 100,000 Indians are currently studying at various US universities, “we want to see more American students enrolling for academic credit at Indian institutions. The US government is fully committed to enhancing this academic cooperation,” she said.
Clinton said the US is also expanding its EducationUSA advising services for Indians and families to provide accurate information about opportunities to study here and help students “sort out misleading offers that come over the Internet.”
She said those offers flood into homes across India giving young Indian students the idea that certain approaches will work for them when in fact it is a “dead end”. “We don’t want to see that happen. We want to see real exchanges with credible institutions and we will do everything we can to support that.”
Early this year, the Tri Valley University in California shut down after an alleged immigration scam, putting the future of a large number of Indian students in jeopardy.
Source: The Economic Times (Online Edition), October 13, 2011
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