Chinese students flood universities in region
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Nick Gao, 20, a sophmore at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, is one of 106 students from China at IUP.
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To fully appreciate the reach of China's revving economy, look a world away at who's showing up with suitcases at Indiana University of Pennsylvania.
Three years ago, 32 students from China were enrolled on the rural campus. By this fall, the number had more than tripled to 106.
Sure, it's a modest sum compared with the 1,638 Chinese students attending Penn State University, up 38 percent in just one year, or enrollments of 789 and 782 Chinese students, respectively, at the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University. Both Pittsburgh schools saw double-digit gains this year.
Just the same, the trend at IUP illustrates one reason why a national report being released today shows China has become the top sender of college students to the United States. Experts say the flow of students from that country is permeating not only the major cities and campuses with the highest profiles abroad, but a much wider swath of schools.
The surge also reflects intensifying efforts at recruiting by American schools including IUP, which has formed relationships with several universities in that country.
"If you're asking me, I would say it's a big part of our future," said Michele Petrucci, IUP's assistant vice president for international education and global engagement.
Nationwide, the number of Chinese college students in this country jumped by 30 percent to 127,628 in 2009-10, pushing past India, which had been the top sender for nearly a decade, according to the annual "Open Doors" report from the Institute of International Education. India's total grew by almost 2 percent to 104,897 in 2009-10, the most recent year for which complete national data is available.
So sharp was the rise in Chinese enrollment that America saw a 3 percent overall gain in international students to 690,923 students, even though more than half of the top 25 sending countries saw declines.
Officials with the institute say the more modest overall growth last year likely is tied to the economic downturn. A smaller sampling of campuses this fall suggests the numbers may be improving.
First Published November 15, 2010 12:00 am
