Asia Contributes The Largest Number of Students to the U.S.

Studying overseas has become increasingly popular for students all over the world. For American students, UK has been a favorite destination drawing largest group of students, closely followed by Italy, Spain and France during the last two years. Almost 60% of students studied abroad for eight weeks or less and took courses mainly in the social sciences, business and humanities.
In turn, the United States hosts many international students from around the world. According to Fast Facts, 2012 has seen an increase of 7% in international students in the US, a record high of almost 820,000 students. China contributed the largest number of students, about 236,000.
There was drop of nearly 4% of students from India; however, it is still second largest group equal to about half of Chinese students. Several countries, including Kuwait, Iran and Saudi Arabia, have shown a marked rise in the number of students they send to the US by at least 25%, nonetheless the largest group remains Chinese students.
A similar trend is in play at VIU, although not necessarily with the same countries. VIU receives the most inquiries from interested foreign students in Asia, followed closely by Africa.
pricy diplomas
In America, the planning stage for future careers starts with the education that parents can get for children, starting as early as preschool and continuing on to the university level. Many private universities now charge over $50,000 annually for tuition, room and board. It has been reported in the latest edition of The Chronicle of Higher Education’s “Almanac of Higher Education” that Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, NY has again been ranked as the most expensive college in the United States. In the year 2012-2013 it cost $61,236 for tuition, room and board.  Despite the many expensive private universities, there are also several more affordable options. As a non-profit university, VIU has been dedicated to providing students with excellent affordable education.
Education Spending
America spends more money on students than other developed nations. A report by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) stated that by comparing education spending to Gross Domestic Product (GDP), U.S. spends 7.3 % of GDP on all levels of education, which surpassed the OECD average of 6.3%. And the U.S. was only topped by five other countries, where Denmark stood on top (8%).
However, spending enormous amounts on education does not necessarily produce equivalent learning outcomes. Among 15 year old students in the Program for International Student Assessment, the U.S. was ranked 31st in math and 23rd in science. Thus, it requires an appropriate funding formula on education that could match learning outcomes, designed according to different states’ needs.
Teachers are the other part of story. On average, the salary of a high school teacher was estimated at $45,500 by the OECD. On the contrary, the U.S. spends on average $53,000 per teacher. The recent economic recession has led to tighter budgets. Consequently, other countries raised teacher salaries more quickly than the U.S. Considering that education defines the roots of a culture for generations, the U.S. can still do more in the education sector.
most popular programs
Among international students studying in the United States, MBA degrees are most popular, yet, engineering, math and computer science, social sciences and physical and life sciences are beginning to catch up. At VIU, the trend reflects that in the rest of the United States, with business programs being the most popular, followed closely by ESL programs and computer and technology programs.