By Joyce Kryszak
Buffalo, NY – U.S. manufacturing isn't the only area with a trade imbalance. A new report shows nearly three times as many international students come into the country to get an education compared to U-S students who study abroad. But colleges and universities aren't complaining.
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This is one case where a flood of imports from China and other countries isn't necessarily such a bad thing. According to a report from the Institute for International Education, nearly 700,000 students from other countries were enrolled at U.S. universities in 2008. And they pumped $15.5 billion into the U.S. economy.
UB ranks 17th nationally for international enrollment. UB has more than 4,500 international students. What is the impact in western New York? Officials estimate about $70 million a year. John Wood is associate vice provost for international education. He said competition is growing - nationally and internationally.
At the same time, UB is working to increase the number of students it exports. In 2008, the study abroad program had only 600 of its roughly 18,000 undergraduates traveling to other countries for a semester or more to study. That was an increase over the previous year and is expected to rise even faster in 2009, according to Wood.
But Wood said they want to do better.
He said they are hoping a call by President Obama to have 100,000 thousand U.S. students go to China to study will spur interest. Wood said the president recognizes the realities of a global marketplace and U.S. students are beginning to understand the benefits as well.
Wood said it's unclear yet whether or not there will be federal incentives to encourage students to study abroad.