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Davis

Davis, California

Tuesday, March 26, 2024

International grad student enrollment increases eight percent nationally

On Nov. 8, the Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) reported its findings from its 2011 international graduate admissions survey. The survey consisted of three phases. Data was collected in February, June and October.

For Phase I, CGS collected data on an initial summary of applications from prospective international students. For Phase II, data was collected on final applications. For Phase III, final offers of admission and first-time and total international graduate enrollment data were recorded.

“Data from this year’s Phase III survey reveals that offers of admission to prospective international graduate students increased nine percent in 2011, the largest increase to occur since 2006,” the CGS survey report stated. “This year’s increase in international first-time graduate enrollment is also the largest since 2006. Total international graduate enrollment increased 2 percent in 2011, up slightly from a 1 percent gain in 2010.”

The CGS found that overall there was an 8 percent increase in first-year enrollment of international graduate students, a jump from a 3 percent increase in 2010.

“CGS breaks out four different countries of origin: China, India, South Korea, and the Middle East and Turkey because these are where the majority of international students come from,” said UC Davis Director of Analysis and Policy for graduate studies Helen Schurke Frasier.

For students from China, there has been a more significant increase in graduate enrollment. There was a 21 percent increase from 2010 to 2011 as compared to a 20 percent rise from 2009 to 2010. There was also a 16 percent increase from 2008 to 2009 and a 14 percent increase from 2007 to 2008.

In regard to students from India, there was a 2 percent jump from 2010 to 2011. There was no change for students from South Korea, and for students from the Middle East and Turkey, a 14 percent increase from 2010 to 2011.

“For UC Davis, in Fall 2010, we had 907 total non-U.S. citizens and in Fall 2011, we had 917,” Frasier said. “It’s a modest increase.”

According to Frasier, the trend for UC Davis has not always been the same as what the CGS found in the national enrollment trend. She said that in Fall 2009, there were 909 international graduate students, a number that slightly fell the next year.

“Our numbers have made very, very slight adjustments in the past three years,” Frasier said. “Going from 909 to 907 to 917 is not a huge difference.”

UC Davis has recently seen a large surge in the number of applications from international graduate students. For admission to Fall 2010, the school received 3,922 applications as opposed to the 4,737 received in 2011, an overall 20.8 percent change.

Fraiser said first-time enrollment for international students went from 230 in Fall 2009 to 242 in 2010 and to 227 this year.

The university offered admission to 675 students this year. In 2010, 627 offers of admission were given.

“For UC Davis international graduate enrollment, in Fall 2010, we had 322 students from China and in Fall 2011, we had 351 students,” Frasier said. “From India, in Fall 2010, we had 61 students and in Fall 2011, 51 students. From South Korea, we had 63 in both 2010 and 2011. From the Middle East and Turkey, we had 63 students in Fall 2010 and 57 in Fall 2011.”

Frasier said the deadlines for applications are different for every graduate program, but many of the graduate programs have their deadline by Feb. 11 although there are still many that have open application deadlines until May 31.

“I am pleased to see strong interest in graduate study at UC Davis from around the world,” said Dean of Graduate Studies Jeffery Gibeling in a statement. “We are actively and continuously working to develop partnerships and agreements with universities and foreign governments to provide opportunities for their talented students to pursue graduate degrees here at UC Davis.”

CLAIRE TAN can be reached at city@theaggie.org.

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