English essay
Discuss the challenges and opportunities that international students encounter while studying in the United States
When we speak about the education in the U.S., famous universities immediately come to mind. However, higher education in the United States is not only Harvard University. An independent liberal arts college Earlham in Richmond, Indiana, also provides education meeting the highest standards. Teachers encourage students to participate in inquisitive activities and value peaceful conflict resolution and human equality, maintaining high moral behavior in college and after graduation.
All foreign students at Earlham are people with a clear vision of the future. A small, private liberal arts college usually attracts students who are seeking simple and peaceful solutions to the world’s problems. And most of them do not wait for a degree in order to address them. Jawad Sepehri Joya from Afghanistan and Yvette Issar from Kenya are among those students who have already found many ways to apply their knowledge to solving social and political issues worldwide.
However, as foreign entrants are eager to enroll in U.S. universities, the education is repeatedly subjected to criticism in the American higher education institutions. Thus, a study by the American board of trustees and alumni showed that 40% of students failed to answer the question: “When did the Civil War take place in the USA?”
Another interesting trend in the traditional American higher education has been the introduction of new courses in entrepreneurship. Currently, U.S. institutions of higher education offer more than 5,000 business courses, while in 1985 there were only 250 ones.
The American education system is younger than the European one, imitating the latter to some extent. An example to follow has been the education system in Oxford and Cambridge. However, in three centuries, American universities have become recognizable worldwide, and have, in turn, begun to exert influence on Europe. Henry Rosovski, a professor at Harvard University, describes the situation thus: “I can safely say that two-thirds or even three-quarters of world’s best universities are located in the United States. (…I do not touch the fact that much of the worst colleges and universities in the world, too, is with us.) Our position at the top of the scale of quality in higher education is very strange. Perhaps it is our special national treasure. Americans are not afraid to experiment and promote competition. In such circumstances, the strongest survive – or the most resourceful. All this has led to the fact that young people from all over the world are eager to learn in the USA”.
According to the Institute of International Education, in the past academic year, the USA educated 453,787 foreign students, which, however, is only 3% of the total number of students. Every year, foreign students bring approximately 7 billion dollars to the US economy.
Who are the foreign students of American universities? Surprisingly, most young people come to learn to the US from Asia (57%), mainly from Japan, China and Korea. The reasons are varied. In some countries, higher education is not available because of economic, religious or cultural reasons, at least in regard to some specialties. In addition, the Asian-American Government pursued philanthropic exchange programs, encouraging the most able young people to continue their studies. The Europeans occupy a second place (15%), including students coming from Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. Five years ago, the USA educated 4,780 people from this region. However, in 1995, the number of students from Eastern Europe and former Soviet Union reached 18,032. Around 5,589 European students came from Russia. This number almost equals the number of French students and those coming from Sweden. Nowadays, there are few Western European students going to study to the USA. Most of them are from Germany, Great Britain and France.
How do students learn? Graduating and getting a diploma is of course not the major goal of foreign students. In most cases it will be necessary to pass a professional test in order to find job in the US companies. It is hard to pass it, but it is even harder to find a well-paid job without it. In some cases, it is practically impossible to do that.
If a university instructor is ill-prepared for their discipline, foreign students have a right to complain. And even a good mark does not necessarily reflect a proper level of education. One may either want to get the tuition fee back or get more knowledge. For this reason, at the end of each semester, students receive a special form with the name of the teacher, course, etc. Name of the student is not specified. As a rule, the special forms include questions of whether the teacher effectively uses time, always speaking to the point. Responses are evaluated according to the ten grade scale. Students only have a pencil to put a point in the right box.
It is interesting to investigate where the Americans themselves send their children if you decide to give their children an education abroad. Indirectly, this may indicate that some European institutions have a reputation of not lower than the traditional American ones. It is pertinent to note that sending a child to study abroad can not be afforded by parents with poor means for living. Not every family, even the middle class one has enough money to send their children study abroad, unless all members of the family take care about the child’s future. Talented and motivated, especially if their future professional career is linked to Europe (e.g., political sphere or arts) can get a special grant from the charitable fund or the university. It is quite difficult for American students to get education abroad, as all young people face the same problems which are mainly financial and cultural.
As a rule, Americans choose universities in Western Europe, and the British universities are among the most popular ones. Great Britain is followed by France and Spain. In Europe, Americans often choose to study the major social and humanitarian sciences (37% of students from the U.S.), business (14%), foreign languages (10%), arts or applied arts (9%). Why then some students prefer studying in the U.S.? Eminent teachers, excellent technical facilities and libraries of American universities have proved their competitiveness. What also attracts attention of most students is a high level of teaching of some disciplines – namely those that are in demand in the labor market.
One more point to be discussed is the existence of a federal structure in the USA that dictates the rules of how to run schools and colleges. Each US state has its own law and education system. Universities and colleges are free to assess the situation in the education market and choose their own development strategy. Traditionally, each state decides what educational programs and courses are to be implemented receiving the highest priority. And this is one of the criteria of students’ choice of specialty.
