STEM: Fewer International Students Coming to U.S. for Grad School in Science and Engineering
International student enrollment in graduate science and engineering programs in the US dropped in 2017 after several years of increases.
Science and engineering fields saw a 6% decrease in international graduate students from the fall of 2016 to the fall of 2017, and almost all of that decrease was concentrated in two fields: computer science and engineering.
This follows steady increases from 2005 to 2015 and comes at a time when demand for tech workers outstrips supply — and foreign-born students are increasingly filling a gap left by declining numbers of American citizens studying science and technology at the graduate level.
The biggest drop came from Indian students, whose numbers fell by 19% in 2017. Saudi Arabia, Iran and South Korea also sent fewer students in 2017.
The figures were released today in the 2018 Science and Engineering Indicators report from the National Science Foundation’s governing body, the National Science Board.
“In the U.S., (international students) are tremendously important,” said Geraldine Richmond, a member of the National Science Board and chemistry professor at the University of Oregon. “Over 50% of our graduate students in technical areas are from outside the country.”
The number of U.S.-born students in STEM graduate programs started declining in 2008, and international students have been important in keeping program numbers up, Richmond said.
“We have a research engine that needs to be fueled, and that fuel is really our graduate students,” Richmond said. “So, as we continue to try to attract the best and brightest in our country, we also seek to attract the best and brightest from these other countries.”
Graduate programs also feed, in part, into hubs like Silicon Valley, where more than half of tech workers are foreign-born.
“There is an insatiable demand. There’s more jobs than we can fill with the current slate of talent,” said Michael Morell, a founder of the tech recruiting firm Riveria Partners.
“The way we talk about it internally is, if you are an average or above-average engineer with core skills as a computer scientist, that is probably a negative unemployment rate.”
The new National Science Board report doesn’t try to explain why enrollment numbers dropped in 2017.
Geraldine Richmond said it will be important to see if this one-year dip turns into a trend. She points to the relatively high costs of coming to the U.S. for graduate school, as well as increasing competition from China, as possible contributing factors.
A survey last year by the American Association of College Registrar and Admissions Officers raised similar concerns about international students overall.
For more information: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2018/01/20/fewer-international-students-coming-u-s-grad-school-science-and-engineering/1050724001/