U.S. market share of foreign students declines, OECD reports

From the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) comes another measurement of America’s decline in global stature: a drop in the relative number of university students choosing the U.S. to continue their education. The Chronicle of Higher Education cites the OECD report, Education at a Glance 2010: OECD Indicators:

While the absolute number of students opting to study abroad continues to go up, their destination choices are shifting. The United States has witnessed by far the biggest drop in its market share, which fell more than 7 percentage points, from 26 to 18.7 percent between 2000 and 2008, the report says. Meanwhile, Australia increased its share by 1 percentage point, to reach 6.9 percent in 2008, the latest year for which figures were available, and Russia, a relative newcomer to internationalization, increased its share by 2 percentage points to reach 4.9 percent in 2008. …

The report also takes a broader look at college-enrollment rates, which continue to rise worldwide—with a few exceptions, such as in the United States.