O S E A S * E U R O P E

OSEAS: WEU and ECE facts and figures, 1996

The Phoenix Conference (1996) presentation of Lydia Shevchik, Regional Educational Advising Consultant, East-Central Europe USIS/Regional Program Office, Vienna

As part of the NAFSA conference "Update on REAC" session, I was able to make a short presentation based on the information found in OPEN DOORS on the ECE region which highlighted the regional trends in student flows to the US, and other regional trends an d developments. This information and information that I've compiled for WEU countries was sent to the NAFSA Working Group on Overseas Educational Advising to assist with their oseas advocacy efforts, and is included below for your general information--I h ope you find it useful and informative.


THE GREATER EUROPEAN REGION

This year Europeans make up slightly more than 14% of all of the international students in the U.S. The total number of European students studying in the United States is now 64,811, and Europeans continue to be the second largest regional group after Asi ans.

For the past five years, annual growth in European enrollments has averaged around 8%. This year, however, due to a decline in the number of students from Western Europe (down 1.2% to 48,905), the growth rate has slowed to less than 4%. Student numbers fr om all of the major European countries are down or remain flat. German enrollments, the largest in the region, rose just 1% (to 8,592), while fewer students came from the United Kingdom, France, Spain, and Greece. Current growth is primarily from the ECE region with ECE enrollments up 23%.

Like students from other highly developed economies, students from Europe are enrolled most often in the humanities and social science fields. East-Central European students are enrolled in greater proportion than Western European students (and than the w orld average) in the physical and life sciences, and in math and computer science, while students from Western Europe are enrolled in greater proportions in business, social science and engineering.

WEU REGION

Consists of over 70 advising centers in Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, The Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, and the United Kingdom.

THE TOP 5 WEU SENDING COUNTRIES:

COUNTRY, Undergrad, Graduate, Other, Total, %, Change

* Germany is largest in terms of actual numbers and although there was a 1% increase from the previous year, this figure represents a drop from the 8% increase noted previously.

* Notable enrollment increases from other WEU countries include Sweden (3,432 total a 6.4% increase), Italy (2,704 +5.3%), and Austria (887 +6.6%).

* The U.K.(59%) and Spain (56%) send the highest proportion of undergraduate students, while the proportion of graduate students is highest among the Greeks (51%) and the Germans (49%). France also has a higher porportion of undergraduates (48%) than grad uates (41%).

REGIONAL TRENDS/DEVELOPMENTS

* Fundraising is a major concern for WEU advising centers. Most WEU Fulbright Commissions are downsizing,and many US consulates which offered advising service have closed. In Germany, America House locations which housed eacs have closed in Hannover and S tuttgart, and in Paris the Franco-American Commission now acts as the sole educational advising center for all of France.
* Oseas-Europe board formed.
* The Fifth European Educational Advising Conference with a world-wide attendence of close to 300 participants was held in Athens, Greece July 1-5

OTHER HIGHLIGHTS

* Highest IEP students are from France (901), Switzerland (885), and Germany (557).
* WEU hosted 57% of all US students studying overseas. The most popular study abroad destinations include the UK with 16,812 (a 1.2% increase) students, France with 7,919 (a 3.0% decrease), Spain (6,937 -2.6%), Italy (6,410 +20%), Germany (3,512 +1.6%), a nd Austria (2,041 +13.3%).

ECE REGION

Consists of over 50 advising centers in Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Serbia-Montenegro, Slovakia, and Slovenia.

* European enrollment up 4% mostly ECE.
* ECE enrollments increased by 23%.

THE TOP 5 ECE SENDING COUNTRIES:

COUNTRY, Undergrad, Graduate, Other, Total, %, Change

* Poland is largest in terms of actual numbers. * Bulgaria largest per capita. * Romania has highest proportion (close to 70%) of graduate students enrolled in US graduate schools. * Czech Republic had the highest (+505.6) percentage increase.

ECE REGIONAL TRENDS/DEVELOPMENTS

* shift from expanding to maintaining centers
* 93% of ECE centers have email access
* 65% have Internet access
* gradual shift from UG to Grad
* Fields of study: physical and life sciences, math and computer science
* Current fundraising needs are minimal thanks to continued USIA and Soros Foundation support.

OTHER ECE HIGHLIGHTS

* oseas-europe WWW pages and oseas-europe list-serv created and maintained by ECE advisors Ildiko Ficzko and Marvi Pulver
* Highest IEP sudents from Poland (118) and Hungary (60)
* Most popular study abroad destinations include the Czech Republic (343 students), Hungary (334), Poland (170).

* Much of the above information is based on, or taken directly from the Institute of International Education's publication "Open Doors".

Back to What is OSEAS/OSEAS-Europe?
Back to OSEAS-Europe home page