國際學生入學人數下降

US enrollment of international students declined for the second year in a row, sending waves of unease across American colleges and universities, which see students from abroad as a buffer against the falling number of US high-school students graduating each year.

美國大學國際學生的入學率連續第二年下滑，令美國各大學深感不安。在美國高中畢業生人數連年下降的情況下，美國大學都把海外留學生視為緩沖力量。

The number of new international students enrolling at American institutions fell by 6.6% during the 2017-18 academic year, on top of a 3.3% decline the year before, according to a report by the Institute of International Education released Tuesday.

據美國國際教育學會11月13日發布的報告稱，2017-18學年，美國各大學新入學國際學生的數量減少了6.6%，而上一年的下降率為3.3%。

The drop takes the number of new students back to the level seen three or four years ago.

這導致美國各大學新入學國際學生的數量退回到三四年前的水平。

At the University of Central Missouri, foreign enrollment surged to 2600 in 2016 before plummeting to just 650 this year, according to data obtained by The AP.

美聯社獲得的數據顯示，在中央密蘇里大學，外國學生的入學人數在2016年激增至2600人，今年則驟降至650人。

At Purdue University, one of the nation"s biggest hubs for international students, total foreign enrollment fell by 2 percent this year.

而作為美國最大的國際學生接收地，普渡大學今年外國學生的總數下降了2%。

Meanwhile, the total number of international students in the US plus those working here on a student visa rose by just 1.5% this year. That was down from average annual growth of 6.1% over the past decade, a period during which enrollment of international students doubled.

與此同時，美國的國際學生總數加上持學生簽證在美國工作的人今年僅增加1.5%，低于過去10年平均每年6.1%的增長率，過去10年招收的國際學生的人數增加了一倍。

International enrollment fell by 4 percent following the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001, according to data provided by the institute.

根據該機構提供的數據，在2001年“911”恐怖襲擊之后，美國的國際學生入學人數下降了4%。

Similar to previous years, the largest numbers of students came from China, India and South Korea, which together made up 56.1 percent of all international students.

和前些年相仿，美國大學國際學生的最大來源國是中國、印度和韓國，來自這三個國家的國際學生占到總人數的56.1%。

The US is also losing students to English-speaking countries such as Canada, Australia and the UK, which have all seen growth in the past year.

在招收國際學生方面，美國還輸給了加拿大、澳大利亞和英國等英語國家，過去一年，這些國家的留學生數量都在增長。

Canada reported a 20 percent jump in 2017, while Australia saw a 12 percent increase.

加拿大2017年的留學生人數增長了20%，澳大利亞增長了12%。

Students from abroad are still flocking to the coasts, but are less interested in the South and Midwest.

海外留學生仍在涌向美國沿海地區，他們對南部和中西部不那么感興趣。

多種原因導致國際學生人數下降

Several factors are driving the decrease. Visa and immigration policy changes by the Trump administration have deterred some international students from enrolling, college administrators and immigration analysts said.

有多種原因導致了國際學生人數的下降。美國大學的管理人員和移民分析師認為，特朗普政府簽證和移民政策的改變使一些國際學生打消了去美國留學的念頭。

A strong dollar has made US college tuition relatively more expensive, Canadian and European universities are competing fiercely for the same students and headlines about mass shootings also may have deterred some students, said Allan Goodman, president of IIE.

國際教育學會主席艾倫·古德曼說，美元走強使得美國大學學費相對更昂貴，加拿大和歐洲的大學也在爭搶國際學生，競爭十分激烈，關于美國大規模槍擊案的新聞報道也讓一些學生望而卻步。

“Everything matters from safety, to cost, to perhaps perceptions of visa policy,” Goodman said.

古德曼說：“各種因素都有，安全、費用、或許還有對簽證政策的看法。”

“We’re hearing that they have choices. We’re hearing that there’s competition from other countries.”

他說：“我們聽說，學生們不止有一個選擇；我們也聽說，還有來自其他國家的競爭。”

The shift is due to a combination of politics, geography and branding, said Alejandra Sosa Pieroni, an international recruitment expert with Ruffalo Noel Levitz, a company that consults with colleges to improve enrollment.

美國招生咨詢公司拉法洛-諾埃爾-勒維茨公司的國際招生專家亞力杭德拉·索莎·諾埃爾說，這一變化是政治、地理和品牌推廣等多種因素造成的。

“Students are not feeling welcome in some states, so they are looking beyond those states and heading to places where they will feel welcome,” she said.

“學生在某些州感覺不那么受歡迎，所以，他們就繞開那些州，前往他們感覺受歡迎的州。”她說。

對美國大學財務狀況產生影響

Foreign students are big business: They pumped $42 billion into US college and university coffers in the 2017-18 school year alone.

國際學生給美國大學帶來了大筆收入：僅在2017-18學年，他們就為美國各大學貢獻了420億美元（約合2916億元人民幣）。

International students have become an important funding source for American colleges as traditional revenue sources, such as state funding, come under pressure. Most undergraduate foreign students do not qualify for need-based financial aid and must pay close to full tuition and fees to attend US schools.

由于政府資助等傳統的經費來源受限，國際學生成為美國大學重要的資金來源。大多數就讀本科的國際學生不符合申請經濟資助的條件，必須全額支付學費和其他費用。

Carol Spradling, director of the school of computer science at Northwest Missouri State University, said international enrollment began declining precipitously two years ago, following a “perfect storm” that included President Trump’s election with his tough talk on immigration and the shooting of an Indian immigrant worker in Olathe, Kan. The downturn, she said, had a huge impact on her school’s finances.

美國西北密蘇里州立大學計算機學院院長卡蘿爾·斯普拉德林說，兩年前，特朗普當選總統并就移民問題發表強硬言論，一名印度工程師在堪薩斯州奧拉西被槍殺，國際學生的入學率開始急劇下降。她說，國際學生下降對她所在學校的財務產生了巨大影響。

The report also found that the number of US students studying abroad ticked up by 2 percent last year, continuing eight years of slow but steady growth. Europe remained the top destination, followed by Latin America and Asia.

報告還發現，美國學生出國留學的人數去年增加了2%，連續8年緩慢但穩定地增長。歐洲仍是美國學生出國留學的第一選擇，緊隨其后的是拉丁美洲和亞洲。