CRA Bulletin

Computer science relies heavily on foreign students at the graduate level. In 2004, 56% of doctoral degrees and 44% of master’s degrees granted in CS were to foreigners. A shift in enrollment of foreign students therefore can have a big impact on degree production.

According to an NSF InfoBrief, after falling for three years, enrollment of first-time, full-time foreign students in master’s and doctoral programs in the computer sciences rose 11% in 2005. First-time enrolment of US citizens was relatively unchanged. The increase among foreigners meant that first-time enrollment in CS grew 6% after declining the previous 2 years. Nevertheless, these gains in first-time enrollment were not enough to halt a 4% drop in total enrollment between 2004 and 2005, and a 13% drop since 2002.

The 11% increase in first-time foreign students caused their share of first-time enrollments in CS to reach 56% in 2005. Even with this improvement, however, the number of first-time foreign students enrolled in CS was still down 29% since 2001, when they represented 71% of incoming students.

Among all science and engineering fields, foreign enrollment has dropped nearly 6% since 2003. Foreigners represented 41% of first-time, full-time graduate students in 2001, and 32% in 2005. So far, the drop in foreign enrollment has been balanced by an increase in enrollment of U.S. citizens and permanent residents: in 2005, their total enrollment reached a new high of 339,500.

The NSF InfoBrief, First-time S&E Graduate Enrollment of Foreign Students Rebounds in 2005, is online at http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/infbrief/nsf07312/