中国海外留学市场爆棚

 I’ve found it interesting reading through the annual “Open Doors 2012” report from the Institute of International Education, which tracks data concerning international students studying in the U.S., as well as U.S. students studying abroad. 

国际教育学会《2012美国开放门户报告》十分有趣，它对在美留学的外籍学生以及赴海外求学的美国学生进行了跟踪调查。
 
China remained the largest sender of students to the U.S. for the third year in a row in the 2011/12 school year. In IIE’s data gathering 1, the Chinese mainland, Taiwan and Hong Kong are all counted separately. Their work is focused primarily on the tertiary education sector 2, so their report does not including secondary school enrollment 3. 
2011至2012学年，中国连续第三次蝉联美国最大的留学生来源国。在国际教育学会的统计中，中国大陆、台湾及香港被作为独立单元分别进行计算。此项调查以高等教育为主，其中并未体现中学在校生的情况。
 
Overall new college and university level enrollment by international students in the U.S. rose by 5.7% in 2011/12. Students from China, on the other hand, grew by 23.1%, to a total of 194,029. 
2011至2012学年，在美国大学及学院注册的海外留学生增加了5.7%，其中来自中国的留学生上涨了23.1%，达到194,029人。
 
During that year, students from the Chinese mainland accounted for 25% of all international enrollment. India ranked second with 13.1%, followed by South Korea with 9.5%. Other Asian places of origin in the top ten included Taiwan (in 6th place, with 3% of the total), Japan (7th, with 2.6%), Vietnam (8th, with 2%). 
这一年，中国大陆留学生占到各国留学生的25%。印度排名第二，占比13.1%，之后是韩国，9.5%。进入前十名的其它亚洲留学生来源地还包括中国台湾（第六名，占总数的3%）、日本（第七名，2.6%）、越南（第八名，2%）。
 
The record high 764,495 international student enrollment in the 50 U.S. states contributed US$ 22.7 billion to the U.S. economy, according to IIE estimates. More than 60% of international students report personal and family sources as their source of funds. 
据国际教育学会估计，全美50个州登记的留学生人数达到了历史最高点764,495人，共为美国经济带来227亿美元的贡献。其中超过60%的留学生都表示，其资金来源为个人收入或家庭供给。
 
For purposes of rough estimation, if we assumed that all students spent the same amount, then with 29.5% of total international enrollment in US colleges and universities coming from Greater China, that’s an expenditure 4 in the range of US$ 6.69 billion in the US in the 2011 academic year. Big bucks 5. 
粗略估算一下，假设所有学生的支出相等，那么占美国大学留学生总数29.5%的大中华区学生在2011学年的总支出应为66.9亿美元。真是好大一笔开支啊！
 
In addition, the “upstream” consumer market in China for test preparation (SAT, GMAT, TOEFL etc.) and private English tuition is in excess of US$ 5 billion per year in tuition and fees. An important driver of this demand is the opportunity for overseas study in English speaking countries including the U.S. 
此外，中国的“上游”市场——SAT、GMAT、托福等考前教育和私人英语培训每年的学费收入已超过50亿美元。而前往包括美国在内的英语国家求学是滋生以上市场需求的重要原因之一。
 
Put into this perspective, higher education in China is indeed a very big business, and growing fast. 
从这个角度看，中国的高等教育真是一个非常巨大而且增长迅速的产业。
 
On a state-by-state basis, California plays host (and cash register) for the largest number of international students, with a total of 102,789 spending some US$ 3.2 billion. New York comes in second, with 82,000-plus and US$ 2.58 billion in expenditures 6. 
如果拿各州作比较，加利福尼亚接待（及进帐）的留学生最多，共有102,789人，总消费达32亿美元。纽约位列第二，学生超过82,000人，消费为25.8亿美元。
 
Looking back just ten years to the 2002 data, India was ahead of China as the source of the most international students. California and New York were still the number one and number two destinations for international students. 
回看一下十年前2002年的数据，当时印度是美国最大的留学生来源地，领先中国。而加州和纽约一直都是海外学生的首选目的地。
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 7 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 8.
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 9 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 10 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 11 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 12 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 13 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。