Overseas students shun UK and US universities

The market share of 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 yesterday.

The latest edition of Education at a Glance,an annual audit published by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, showed that although foreign students continue to be attracted to the two countries because of the English language teaching and perceived quality of education, in relative terms their position is weakening.

The Paris-based organisation reported that US market share fell 2 per cent from 2002-3, while the UK suffered the fastest decline among OECD members, falling from 16.2 per cent in 1998 to 13.5 percent in 2003.

The most recent year used by the report is 2003 so the percentages did not include a 21.3 per cent fall in the number of Chinese students accepted for university courses in Britain this year. Britain is increasingly reliant on the higher fees paid by students from outside the European Union to help sustain its universities for domestic students.

The overall number of students studying outside their own countries stood at 2.1m in 2003, an 8.3 percent annual average increase since 1998.

According to the report the international complexion of US campuses has changed strikingly since September 11 2001. The country's universities have seen decreases of 10-37 per cent in students from the Gulf states, northern Africa and some south-east Asian countries.

The report also concluded that despite continued, if uneven, growth in the number of graduates churned out by the rich world's universities, the monetary value of a degree showed no sign of having been tarnished.

Andreas Schleicher, head of the Indicators and Analysis Division of the OECD's Directorate of Education, said there was no evidence of inflation of the labour-market value of qualifications and that graduates could expect to continue to earn considerably more than those without a degree.

Assessing the performance of the world's schools, Mr Schleicher said Asia was soaring while Europe remained level and South America had slipped into relative decline.

全文翻译：

英美大学留学生人数骤跌

据昨天公布的一项国际教育体系比较研究称，英美大学的留学生市场份额急剧下降，而澳大利亚、日本和新西兰日益成为受欢迎的留学目的地。

最新版《各国教育概观》（Education at A Glance）显示，尽管由于英美两国以英语教学，且教育质量明显较高，外国学生继续被这两个国家所吸引，但相对而言，两国的地位在下降。该报告是经合组织（OECD）公布的年度教育审计报告。

总部位于巴黎的经合组织报告说，美国的市场份额2002至2003年下降了2%，而英国在经合组织成员国中降幅最大，已从1998年16.2%的份额降至2003年的13.5%.

该报告采用数据的最近年度是2003年，因此该数据并没有将今年的情况包括在内，今年留学英国的中国学生人数减少了21.3%.英国正日益依赖欧盟以外学生支付的更高学费，使英国大学能够继续招收国内学生。

2003年海外留学生总人数为210万，自1998年以来每年平均增长8.3%.

根据这篇报告，自2001年9月11日的事件以来，美国大学校园里国际学生的构成发生了惊人变化。来自海湾地区各国、北非以及某些东南亚国家的学生人数减少了10%至37%.

报告还得出结论，尽管富国大学的毕业生人数仍在持续（或许不均匀地）增长，学位的经济价值丝毫没有贬值的迹象。

经合组织教育指标和分析部负责人安德里亚·施莱歇尔（Andreas Schleicher）说，没有证据显示，学位资格在劳动力市场上的价值正发生“膨胀”，毕业生收入可以期望比那些没有学位的人高出许多。

在评估全球学校的表现时，施莱歇尔先生说，亚洲正在“急剧上升”，欧洲保持原有水准，而南美洲则相对有所滑坡。

重点词汇：

destination n.目的地，[计]目的文件，目的单元格

perceive vt.察觉

reliant adj.信赖的，依靠的，信赖自己的

domestic adj.家庭的，国内的，与人共处的，驯服的

complexion n.面色，肤色，情况，局面

despite prep.不管，尽管，不论

tarnish v.失去光泽

indicator n.指示器，[化]指示剂

inflation n.胀大，夸张，通货膨胀，（物价）暴涨

soaring adj.高飞的，翱翔的