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USA aims high
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International student enrolments in the USA continue to expand for English language teaching centres, while numbers are also rallying at higher education institutions. Gillian Evans reports.
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The US English language teaching industry enjoyed another buoyant year in 2006 for a number of reasons. Chris Taylor, Director of Admissions at Study Group USA, reports that their student numbers were up by 22 per cent in 2006 compared with 2005 and, for the first half of 2007, enrolments increased by 26 per cent in comparison to the corresponding period last year. “I believe that this increase is due partly to the weakness in the US dollar against currencies in several key markets, coupled with the USA’s return to favour as an international tourist destination,” says Taylor. “More importantly, the USA is establishing itself more firmly than ever as the destination of choice for international students seeking university and college education, due to its range of locations and the academic strength and reputation of its educational institutions.”
Lynne Richmond, Director of the American Language Institute at California State University at Long Beach, CA, reports that in 2006, they experienced a 46 per cent hike in student numbers compared with 2005, and that this was largely owing to the increase in Middle Eastern students, thanks to the Saudi scholarship programme (see Language Travel Magazine, June 2006, page 29). This, according to Richmond, “has made it possible for many more students to come to study in the United States”.
For St Giles International in San Francisco, CA, the Saudi scholarships had a “very positive effect” on their numbers, says Johanna Harris from the school. In 2006, enrolments were up by 30 per cent on 2005 figures and, in the first half of 2007, numbers had increased by 40 per cent compared with the same period in 2006. Meanwhile, at the American Language Institute, the scholarships catapulted Saudi Arabia to the top of the league table of most prominent source countries for international students, together with South Korea, Taiwan and Japan.
But it has not only been Saudi Arabia that has proved particularly fruitful for the US market. Richmond says, “In the past two years, we have also seen an increase in students from Turkey, United Arab Emirates, China, Eastern Europe and countries of the former USSR, as well as in European and South American students.”
At ELC, which has a number of schools throughout the USA, top student nationalities include Korean, Japanese, Spanish and Italian. However, Christopher Malenfant at the school reports that Japanese numbers dipped in 2006 and are “still tanking in 2007”. He ventures that this decline may be owing to a switch in destination preference away from the USA in favour of Australia and New Zealand.
In terms of course trends, there is a clear move towards academic programmes and higher-level English language courses, as Richmond confirms. “I have seen greater interest in advanced grammar, university preparation courses, pre-MBA courses and pronunciation courses at a higher level.”
As a result of the growing interest in academic programmes, St Giles International last year rebranded its Study Year Abroad Course, now called the International Semester Course, and invested in a heavy marketing campaign. “It was immensely successful,” claims Harris, ”and the course is now our most popular.”
Juniors are also becoming increasingly important to the US market, as evidenced by ELC’s experience. “Our junior programme has been a large part of our growth in the summer months,” states Malenfant. “Juniors and their parents are willing to go to programmes that are outside of Europe now.” He adds, “There are still few [junior] programmes in the USA and this has driven business to ELC.”
But the junior marketplace looks set to become busier, with St Giles launching a junior summer camp for 12- to 17-year-olds this year, “in response to requests from younger learners”, says Harris.
While the threat of terrorism continues to hang heavily over the travel industry, the US market has managed to regain the confidence of tourists and students alike. As Harris says, “Although there was a threat of terrorism in 2006, this did not affect our student numbers. People generally seem confident about travelling.”
Similarly, the shootings at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg, VA, earlier this year (see Language Travel Magazine, July 2007, page 6) has had little long-term effect on student numbers, according to the school sources interviewed for this article, although Taylor concedes, “We did experience some concern in certain markets over this incident, more so from students and parents from Asia looking to enrol on longer term academic/university courses rather than shorter term language programmes. There has been some negative influence certainly but not to a level that we view as significant and it is a sentiment that is fading.”
Overall, the outlook for the US market looks positive, with many schools, like Study Group USA, having strong strategies in place to make the most of this continued growth.
2006 good for higher education institutions
According to the 2005/06 Open Doors survey, conducted by IIE, the number of international students enrolled in US higher education institutions, mustered only marginal growth to reach 564,766 in 2005/06. However, a further online survey of 1,000 institutions in the USA revealed that the 2006/07 academic year looks healthier.
Looking at overall international student enrolments, the survey revealed that 45 per cent of respondents said numbers had increased, 26 per cent said they had dropped and 29 per cent said numbers had remained the same.
Of the institutions that had experienced a decrease in international student enrolments, 20 per cent said the main reason for this decline was visa application delays and/or denials. However, this was down from 35 per cent in 2005, indicating that the visa situation has improved. A further 16 per cent of institutions cited the cost of tuition at US institutions as the factor that had put off many international students from studying there, while a further seven per cent believed international enrolments were down because students were favouring other education destinations. Several institutions put their decreases down to a combination of reasons, including competition from other host countries, increased capacity in the students’ home countries, and increased competition for international students among educational institutions within the USA.
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