Drop seen in new graduate student enrolment

US graduate schools saw a slight dip in the number of new students enrolling from academic years 2009 to 2010, the first such decrease since the autumn of 2003, according to new data released by the Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) on 22 September. The 1.1 per cent drop comes on the heels of a 5.5 per cent increase in first-time graduate school enrolment the previous year, and it occurred despite an 8.4 per cent jump in applications to US graduate schools. In fact, total graduate enrolment grew 1.1 per cent.

Interestingly, while first-time enrolment of domestic students fell by more than 1 per cent, enrolment of international students grew by 4.7 per cent following a decline. “This is contrary to trends seen over the past decade when the average annual rate of increase for US citizens and permanent residents was 4.4 per cent versus 2.3 per cent for international students,” CGS noted.