1. Works Cited
Stephens, Paul. "International Students: Separate But Profitable." Washington Monthly 45.9/10 (2013): 55. Points of View Reference Center. Web. 9 Oct. 2015.
2. Main ideas of the article
This article proposes some concerns over the issue that the amount of international students recruited by U.S. flagship state universities is increasing drastically over the past five years. The author Stephens Paul provided specific examples of Purdue University that depends heavily on international students to compensate for the declining state spending on public higher education. Paul points out several downsides of the rising of international students' role in American Higher Education. Since flagship state universities such as Purdue does not require SAT/ACT scores for international students' admission, they alleviate the risk of driving down school's selectivity Therefore, this relatively lower admission requirement fosters big business do college recruiting (for-profit agencies, for example) and the integrity of the process can no longer be assured. The large amount of international students in state universities also leads to isolation because international students are grouped together and thus rarely reach out to their American peers. From an economic standpoint, admitting more international student implies that state disinvestment will continue and there will be even less state support for American public higher education.
3. Quotes from the article
1) "International students bring a lot of money into the United States, contributing roughly $22 billion to the U.S. economy. in 2012, according to one estimate. Francisco Sanchez, the undersecretary for international trade at the Commerce Department, has said the U.S. has “no better export” than higher education, and Larry Summers, former secretary of the treasury and former Harvard president, lists “exporting higher education”—bringing more international students to American institutions—as a key part of his recommendations for economic growth" (56).
2) "In Indiana, international students bring $688 million in economic benefits, equivalent to 40 percent of what the state spends on higher education every year. At Purdue, the tuition paid by international undergraduates since 2007 accounts for almost half of all the new revenue it has raised through tuition" (56).
3) "Chinese parents who have spent years saving nest eggs to send their child to university see highly ranked American public schools as a great value compared to private colleges. With growing wealth and a lack of educational infrastructure in China—and millions of single children reaching college age—Chinese parents are willing to pay the price" (56).
4) "The search for out-of-state tuition dollars has been going on for a long time, but it was somewhat kept in check by a limited pool of students, and the possible loss of prestige from lowering standards. But a limitless supply of international students changes the game quite a bit, Roza said. “People say, ‘Oh well, they’re supporting our kids,”’ she said, referring to the financial benefits of having out-of-state and international students. “But they aren’t supporting our kids if our kids aren’t getting in” " (57)
5) “It’s a classic scenario of a developing market,” said David Hawkins, director of public policy and research for the National Association for College Admission Counseling, about the use of agencies for recruiting student abroad. “The borders are not well determined.” Hawkins’s organization recent released a report recommending best practices for recruiting abroad, a scene that he has characterized as a “gold rush.” The recommendations call for strict guidelines to ensure transparency and institutional accountability in the use of paid agents. But even for universities that don’t pay agents to recruit abroad, gray areas remain in the relationship, Hawkins said, since the university is largely dependent on their services for international applications" (58).
6) "It raises the specter of a downward spiral of state disinvestment and decreasing public support for universities, adding grease to the slippery slope of increasing privatization" (59).
2. Main ideas of the article
This article proposes some concerns over the issue that the amount of international students recruited by U.S. flagship state universities is increasing drastically over the past five years. The author Stephens Paul provided specific examples of Purdue University that depends heavily on international students to compensate for the declining state spending on public higher education. Paul points out several downsides of the rising of international students' role in American Higher Education. Since flagship state universities such as Purdue does not require SAT/ACT scores for international students' admission, they alleviate the risk of driving down school's selectivity Therefore, this relatively lower admission requirement fosters big business do college recruiting (for-profit agencies, for example) and the integrity of the process can no longer be assured. The large amount of international students in state universities also leads to isolation because international students are grouped together and thus rarely reach out to their American peers. From an economic standpoint, admitting more international student implies that state disinvestment will continue and there will be even less state support for American public higher education.
3. Quotes from the article
1) "International students bring a lot of money into the United States, contributing roughly $22 billion to the U.S. economy. in 2012, according to one estimate. Francisco Sanchez, the undersecretary for international trade at the Commerce Department, has said the U.S. has “no better export” than higher education, and Larry Summers, former secretary of the treasury and former Harvard president, lists “exporting higher education”—bringing more international students to American institutions—as a key part of his recommendations for economic growth" (56).
2) "In Indiana, international students bring $688 million in economic benefits, equivalent to 40 percent of what the state spends on higher education every year. At Purdue, the tuition paid by international undergraduates since 2007 accounts for almost half of all the new revenue it has raised through tuition" (56).
3) "Chinese parents who have spent years saving nest eggs to send their child to university see highly ranked American public schools as a great value compared to private colleges. With growing wealth and a lack of educational infrastructure in China—and millions of single children reaching college age—Chinese parents are willing to pay the price" (56).
4) "The search for out-of-state tuition dollars has been going on for a long time, but it was somewhat kept in check by a limited pool of students, and the possible loss of prestige from lowering standards. But a limitless supply of international students changes the game quite a bit, Roza said. “People say, ‘Oh well, they’re supporting our kids,”’ she said, referring to the financial benefits of having out-of-state and international students. “But they aren’t supporting our kids if our kids aren’t getting in” " (57)
5) “It’s a classic scenario of a developing market,” said David Hawkins, director of public policy and research for the National Association for College Admission Counseling, about the use of agencies for recruiting student abroad. “The borders are not well determined.” Hawkins’s organization recent released a report recommending best practices for recruiting abroad, a scene that he has characterized as a “gold rush.” The recommendations call for strict guidelines to ensure transparency and institutional accountability in the use of paid agents. But even for universities that don’t pay agents to recruit abroad, gray areas remain in the relationship, Hawkins said, since the university is largely dependent on their services for international applications" (58).
6) "It raises the specter of a downward spiral of state disinvestment and decreasing public support for universities, adding grease to the slippery slope of increasing privatization" (59).
4. Conclusion
I think this article could greatly contribute to my topic as it supports my proposed ideas. It is also useful in the way that it provides specific examples/evidence in terms of the point that I am trying to make. Admitting international students benefit flagship state universities more financial as compared to academically. The idea of promoting diversity merely supplements the big picture but not the emphasis. For international students, although having the opportunity to pursue a degree in American universities is inevitably an advantage, most of them are isolated and only communicate with people with the same nationality. Hence, this isolation may have adverse effects on how international students place themselves in American universities as well as how they perceive the school environment. I would want to gather more information about international students' subject experience in American colleges and hopefully the searching process gives me a better frame for that purpose.
I think this article could greatly contribute to my topic as it supports my proposed ideas. It is also useful in the way that it provides specific examples/evidence in terms of the point that I am trying to make. Admitting international students benefit flagship state universities more financial as compared to academically. The idea of promoting diversity merely supplements the big picture but not the emphasis. For international students, although having the opportunity to pursue a degree in American universities is inevitably an advantage, most of them are isolated and only communicate with people with the same nationality. Hence, this isolation may have adverse effects on how international students place themselves in American universities as well as how they perceive the school environment. I would want to gather more information about international students' subject experience in American colleges and hopefully the searching process gives me a better frame for that purpose.
Though not a scholarly article this does seem like a major article. In future lit reviews, see if you can find scholarly articles -- even though this is a relatively recent topic.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great article and you do a great job of discussing it.