<span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'>Foreign Applications to U.S. Graduate Schools Slow</span>
By S. MITRA KALITA
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The number of Chinese and Middle Eastern students applying for fall admission to U.S. graduate programs surged, while applications from India and South Korea fell, according to a survey to be released Tuesday by the Council of Graduate Schools.
The council, which represents more than 500 higher-education institutions in the U.S. and Canada, said foreigners' applications for 2009 graduate-school admissions rose 4% from the year before. That compares with increases of 6% in 2008, 9% in 2007 and 12% in 2006. Foreigners' applications to universities that offer doctoral programs rose 5%, but foreigners' applications declined 17% at universities that offer master's as their highest degree.
Chinese visitors at an educational exhibition in Shanghai in March learn about San Diego State University.
Associated Press
The mixed results point to a meeting of new realities in the global economy: On the one hand, some countries have improved their educational systems to keep students closer to home or woo those from other countries who might have otherwise chosen the U.S. On the other, the global recession -- and some signs of resistance to employing immigrants in the U.S. -- means U.S. tuitions are increasingly out of reach for some, while others fear jobs won't be waiting for them upon graduation.
"Historically, U.S. graduate schools were the graduate schools for the world," said council president Debra W. Stewart. "Now, we cannot simply assume it's going to be a matter of turning on the spigot and the most talented people in the world will flow in." She and others in higher education say it is too soon to know the true effects of the financial crisis on higher education until enrollment numbers are available.
The council survey of U.S. institutions, which fielded more than 400,000 applications in all, showed growth of applications from China along with the Middle East and Turkey, up 16% and 20% from 2008, respectively. But applications from India and South Korea fell 9% and 7%, respectively.
[foreign student application chart]
"The global economy is really impacting students' ability to come to the United States," Ms. Stewart noted. "Students in India are now finding it difficult to borrow money." She cited tighter lending as another reason that doctoral programs, which typically offer stipends and assistance, would be luring more students than master's programs.
If the trend persists, it will mean a subtle but significant change on U.S. campuses, which have come to rely on foreign students to fill their seats, particularly in such departments as science and technology.
The council says declines in foreign applicants have come largely at schools with relatively few foreign students. The University of Kansas noted a drop in foreign students' applications, said assistant dean John Augusto, who works in the office of research and graduate studies, "but fortunately not as big a drop as some institutions." Mr. Augusto said that about 2,000 of the university's 29,000 students are from abroad. Admissions officials at the University of Southern California and New York University, which have among the largest international-student populations, say they have not seen a drop-off.
Other countries, such as the U.K., Australia and Canada, have enacted policies that make it easier for students to go from the classroom to the workplace without reapplying for a visa, said Ursula Oaks, a spokeswoman for the Association of International Educators. Meanwhile, amid a high unemployment rate, some U.S. government agencies and recent legislation are discouraging recruitment of foreign workers.
"There's concern that international students have about finding jobs in the U.S. economy after they graduate," Ms. Oaks said.
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fall admission
秋季入学，fall在美语中即秋季，通常不使用autumn。本段中的重点在于中国和中东地区的学生人数猛增而印度和南韩的则下降这个事实，according to之后接的部分一笔带过，由while后接的fell可知前半句中surge为fell的相反意思。
第2自然段中对入学申请数额进行的前后时期的对比可见自2006年以来外国学生入美留学申请人数增势见缓，主要原因是申请博士学位者的增长被申请硕士学位者的下降所抵消。第3自然段紧接着对以上数据进行了解释，即全球经济的现实导致(the mixed results point to a meeting of new realities in the global economy，此处meeting相当于符合、一致)：一方面美国以外的国家提升了其教育体系，留住和吸引了更多学生，另一方面，美国当前的移民雇佣歧视迹象对吸引国际学生不利。out of reach for some指（美方院校）在国际学生选择的范围之外。
field（出现于第5自然段，意思是to answer questions, telephone calls etc, especially when there are a lot of them or the questions are difficult）表明该项调查研究的样本数充足，结论可信。在对数据进行分析时，委员会主席称目前对于金融危机给高等教育造成的影响下定论还为时过早，但（调查统计数据的结果，如博士申请数量上升而硕士申请数量下降）原因包括贷款紧缩(tighter lending)情况下学生对于提供资助(stipends and assistance)的博士学位的青睐。
在进行了时间前后的对比和不同学位、不同国家留学生数量的对比后，该调查数据还显示出经济危机条件下美国不同院校受到的冲击，国际学生少的高校受的影响更大(come largely at schools with relatively few foreign students)，南加州大学和纽约大学这两个最国际化的大学中，外国学生的申请人数并未见少。
本文最后将美国与其它国家，如英伦、澳、加进行政策方面的对比，一方面是这些国家颁布律法(enacted policies)帮助学生就业，另一方面美国政府机构却立法阻止企业雇佣(discouraging recruitment)非美籍员工。
concern
担心、顾虑，文中指学生对毕业后在美国求职就业的考虑。
ref link
<a href='http://chinese.wsj.com/gb/20090407/fea162558.asp' target='_blank'>http://chinese.wsj.com/gb/20090407/fea162558.asp</a>