中国海外留学市场爆棚

For ten years’ running, the University of Southern California has been the leader among US universities in terms of numbers of international students ( 9,269 in 2011/12 versus 5,950 in 2002). Second or third place has typically gone to New York University, with traditionally strong rankings also by University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Columbia, Purdue, and University of Michigan at Ann Arbor.
十年来，南加州大学的留学生人数一直高居各校之首（2011-2012学年为9,269人，2002年为5,950人）。纽约大学通常不是第二就是第三，其它一贯排名靠前的学校还包括厄巴那伊利诺伊大学、哥伦比亚大学、普渡大学、密歇根大学安娜堡分校。

The only Ivy League school regularly in the top 20 in terms of hosting international students has been Harvard University.
长青藤联盟唯一一所留学生人数经常跻身前二十名的学校是哈佛大学。

U.S. students are also studying abroad in growing numbers, but the financial crisis of 2008 put a plateau into the growth curve. Europe is still the traditional leader as a host region for US students studying abroad, with some 54% heading there.
与此同时，赴海外留学的美国学生也呈现上升趋势，但2008年的经济危机让增长曲线进入平台期。欧洲历来是美国学生海外留学的热点，有54%的学生都前往欧洲学习。

China is now ranked 5th in the world as a host for US students. In 2010/11 (the latest data available), there were 14,596 U.S. students in China, nearly a five-fold increase over the past ten years.
中国接待的美国留学生总数在全球排名第五。2010至2011学年（这是现有的最新统计数据），美国在华留学生共有14,596人，相较于10年前增长了5倍。

It’s also interesting to reflect on the fact that although international student numbers in the U.S. have been rising very steadily for many years, they have been outpaced by the growth in U.S. student enrollment overall. As a result, the percentage of international students within the total enrollment numbers has remained in the range of between 3 and 4% during the past ten years.
调查还反映出一个有趣的现象，尽管赴美留学生的总量连年稳步增长，但仍超不过美国当地学生的整体增长。结果，留学生占学生总数的比例在过去十年中一直保持在3%至4%之间。

In 2011/12, total enrollment in US universities and colleges was 20.6 million, as compared with 15.9 million ten years earlier. To put that into a bit more historical perspective, total enrollment in 1981/82 was just 12.3 million; in 1970/71 the number was 8.5 million. In other words, dramatic growth.
2011至2012学年，美国大学及学院共有在校生2,060万名，10年前这一数字为1,590万人。如果追溯更远一点儿的历史，1981至1982学年的学生总数为1,230万人，1971至1981学年为850万人。也就是说，增长十分显著。

Talking with HR experts, it’s clear that the U.S. now has a surplus of college graduates and a serious shortage of young people with more formal technical training. While there remains serious unemployment in the white collar job sector, companies are finding it hard to fill many technical and skilled manufacturing positions. This is a serious disconnect.
与人力资源专家对话发现，如今美国明显面临着大学毕业生过剩、受过正统技术培训的青年短缺的现状。白领岗位失业率居高不下，用人单位苦于找不到高级技工。二者脱节相当严重。

Different people will rightly focus on different aspects of the growth story in Chinese students going to America — some positive, some negative. On balance, to me, it’s a good news story. We need all the bright young talent we can get who have the language and thinking skills to help navigate our challenging future.
针对中国赴美留学生增长这一现象，不同的人会从不同的角度予以关注——或褒或贬。但总的来说，我觉得这是一则好消息。因为我们需要一切既具备语言能力、又会思考的年轻才俊来帮助我们探索未来。

Let’s just hope that in addition to a college degree they learn that the world doesn’t owe them a living. Success takes hard work, the ability to bounce back from adversity, and an ethical compass to navigate by; but international study can open many new doors.
只期盼这些年轻人在拿到大学文凭的同时，也能懂得这世界并不亏欠他们一个人生。成功需要努力，需要在逆境中崛起的能力，也需要守正不阿，但海外留学将为他们的人生带来许多新的机遇。