VOA常速英语:美国不再是留学生的首选

Foreign students are looking at other countries to pursue their education because of the extremely high costs for attending American universities according to studies.
“It is no secret that compared to other nations, the cost of higher education in the U.S. is significantly higher.”
But high tuition is not the only factor.
A study by the Institute for International Education points to perceived crime in the US and divisive political rhetoric aimed at immigrants.

“Actually this has become a prime concern, and my background is an Indonesian, an Asian, and a Muslim, also my appearance is different,so people can tell that I’m from outside America.
It will be a challenging situation for me to adapt in the States
even though at first I thought it wasn’t a problem as I felt that America was open-minded.”
Other countries such as Canada are seen by some is more welcoming. It has looked to attract students from China, India, Philippines, Vietnam and Pakistan by granting visas.
They take only three weeks to process.
“We have found that based on our statistics that these are the countries that are most interested in sending students to Canada
“.And while having fewer international students than the U.S., those in Canada find their immigration pathways are paying off.”
“After my college degree, I’ve got a three-year open work permit, which is also for the post-grad work permit and I applied for jobs.
I got recruited by an accounting firm and there I worked one-year full time, and which made me eligible to apply for permanent residence.”
New Zealand with 130,000 international students is also beefing up its recruitment strategy.
The vast majority about 50 percent come from China and from India,
but we also have obviously a big interest in finding students, the right students from South America, North America and Europe as well as the Middle East, Southeast Asia.
Despite this competition, some experts believe the U.S. can once again become the top choice for international students.
“One of the fantastic things about the global higher education landscape is that any country we can become a leading destination depending on the right factors.
Saying, the United States, for example, could become a leading destination once again and dominate for quite a while.”
She adds that measures by universities such as making international students feel more welcomed through English language classes, networking and student organizations would help attract more foreign students.
For Sahar Majid, Jim Bertel VOA news