Foreign applicants continue to decline

International applications to the University's graduate schools dramatically decreased for the 2003-2004 school year.

The unsettling trend has affected graduate schools across the nation, despite efforts to address the problem with new outreach initiatives.

Nationwide, international applications to graduate schools were down 28 percent for the 2003 school year, and international admits had a corresponding 18 percent decline, according to a Council of Graduate Schools study released last week.

The group surveyed several hundred American graduate schools to evaluate the effects of recent changes in the U.S. visa policy after Sept. 11.

At Penn, international applications dropped by 27 percent, and the number of applications from certain specific countries saw even steeper declines. Applications from China were down 45 percent nationally, as well as at Penn.

The University showed a smaller loss of applicants from India, with only an 11 percent decline, while the national average was a 28 percent drop.

"By and large, this is a national story," Interim Provost Peter Conn said, adding that all the top graduate schools are experiencing significant declines.

He attributed the trend to several factors, including the greater interest of foreign students in conducting their studies at universities abroad.

In a press release issued last week, President of the College of General Studies Debra Stewart said the declines are mainly due to "changing visa processes, diminished perceptions of U.S. hospitality to foreign students and increased competition from universities abroad."

Conn also pointed to the increased delays and difficulties in acquiring visas for international students, who are now subject to longer waits for the approval of visas.

This year, though, the Office of International Programs has reported a decreased number of complaints as compared to last year. However, visa troubles remain an issue.

The visa process can take "a far longer time than [students] actually have to make it here by the beginning of the school year," School of Engineering and Applied Science Director of Academic Affairs Joseph Sun said. "The visa situation is a huge factor."

The federal government recently decided to consider extending security clearances for foreign students beyond one year, but many prospective international students have trouble acquiring a visa at all.

"Gaining a visa in the first place -- that's where the problem lies," Sun said, calling the visa problem "one of the most dramatic reasons" international applications have dropped.

"If that situation doesn't improve, I'm not at all hopeful that the number of our international applicants would rise," he added. Though he did not have specific figures, he said applicants to Penn's Engineering School were down significantly.

Engineering schools have been hit hard by the trend, with international applications to American graduate engineering programs down 36 percent nationwide, according to the CGS study.

"There has been a decline this past cycle and the cycle before," Sun said of foreign applications to SEAS.

Sun called the declining number of applicants from India and the Middle East "incredibly problematic" for the Engineering School.

But while the CGS study found that 72 percent of graduate schools are taking action to combat the decline, Penn has yet to address the problem for all of its graduate schools.

Conn said that the University has not yet developed any systematic response to the problem, but said that school officers will be meeting soon to discuss future initiatives, now that the numbers are clearer.

"We have no reason to believe that these three factors will abate in the short run," Stewart said. "In fact, global competition will surely accelerate in the future."

He added, "The larger issue going forward is, will the decline continue and will it ultimately erode our capacity to attract the best students wherever they reside?"

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