Is the U.S. losing out on foreign students?

Jon Boone writes in the Financial Times that the United States and United Kingdom have competitors in the global marketplace for university education: The market share of lucrative international students enjoyed by British and US universities has dropped sharply as Australia, Japan and New Zealand become increasingly popular destinations, according to an international comparison of ...

By , a professor of international politics at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and co-host of the Space the Nation podcast.

Jon Boone writes in the Financial Times that the United States and United Kingdom have competitors in the global marketplace for university education:

Jon Boone writes in the Financial Times that the United States and United Kingdom have competitors in the global marketplace for university education:

The market share of lucrative international students enjoyed by British and US universities has dropped sharply as Australia, Japan and New Zealand become increasingly popular destinations, according to an international comparison of education systems published on Tuesday…. The Paris-based [OECD] reported that US market share fell 2 per cent between 2002-3 while the UK suffered the fastest decline among OECD members, falling from 16.2 per cent in 1998 to 13.5 per cent in 2003…. According to the report the international complexion of US campuses has changed strikingly in the years since September 11 2001. The country?s universities have seen decreases of between10-37 per cent of students from the Gulf states, North Africa and some Southeast Asia countries. The decline was partially compensated for by a 47 per cent increase in students from China and a 12 per cent increase in students from India.

UPDATE: Hello, Instapundit readers — you might want to check out this post on U.S. education as well. ANOTHER UPDATE: Hmmm…. maybe the decline in foreign student enrollment is because the American academy in general — and the University of Chicago in particular — is staffed by nutjobs.

Daniel W. Drezner is a professor of international politics at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and co-host of the Space the Nation podcast. Twitter: @dandrezner

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