赴英讀研中國學生仍將繼續增加

THE HAGUE — Amid fears that bureaucracy and high costs could diminish Britain’s stature as a leading destination for international students, a new study foresees long-term, steady growth in the ability of British universities to attract foreign graduate students, especially from China.

海牙——儘管有人擔心官僚作風和高昂費用可能會削弱英國作爲國際學生首選留學國的地位，但一項新的研究預計，英國大學對外國研究生，尤其是中國研究生的吸引力，將會有長期穩定的提升。

The study, released by the British Council this month, predicts that by 2024 Britain will add 83,000 international graduate students to the 223,745 it hosted in 2013.

2013年，共有22.38萬名國際研究生在英國求學。英國文化教育協會(British Council)本月發佈的研究報告預計，到2024年，人數還將在此基礎上增加8.3萬人。

Of those, 44 percent will come from China, which currently accounts for about 22 percent of international graduate students in Britain.

中國將貢獻這一增量的44%。目前，英國的國際研究生有22%來自中國。

But the report, “Postgraduate Student Mobility Trends to 2024,” also raised some concerns. At an estimated yearly growth of 3.5 percent from 2013 to 2024, Britain’s power to attract foreign graduate students will have weakened compared to the five years leading up to 2012, when British universities registered 4.1 percent growth in that sector.

但這份題爲《展望2024：研究生流動趨勢》(Postgraduate Student Mobility Trends to 2024)的報告也提出了一些問題。根據預期，從2013年到2024年，在英國各大學註冊的國際研究生人數將以每年3.5%的速度遞增，但在2012年之前的5年時間裏，年增長率爲4.1%——相較而言，英國對外國研究生的吸引力將有所下降。

The figures also suggest a growing reliance on China, which, though currently the biggest provider of international postgraduate students, is expected to send fewer students as its population ages.

這些數字還表明，留學市場對中國生源的依賴程度不斷提高。中國目前是國際留學生的最大來源國，但隨着人口的逐步老齡化，中國輸出的國際留學生的人數將逐漸減少。

“The U.K. can’t just sit up and look at its historical position in this market,” said Jo Attwooll, the senior policy manger at Universities UK, an association that represents the country’s universities. “There is a growing amount of competition from other countries.”

“英國不能只是坐守其成，洋洋自得於它在這個市場上的歷史地位，”英國大學組織(Universities UK)高級政策經理喬·阿託沃爾(Jo Attwooll)說，“來自其他國家的競爭正在不斷不斷加劇。”這個組織代表英國各大學。

The day the study was released, a recruitment film was being shot on the campus of University of Derby, a middle-sized university in central England. The university boasts small class sizes and good connections with several global companies, like Rolls-Royce, Bombardier and Toyota, which have offices in and around the town of Derby. It has an excellent employability rate for graduates.

研究報告發布的那天，德比大學(University of Derby)的校園裏正在拍攝招生影片。這所規模中等的大學位於英格蘭中部，可以進行小班教學，並且和羅爾斯·羅伊斯(Rolls-Royce)、龐巴迪(Bombardier)、豐田(Toyota)等跨國公司有着良好的關係。這些企業都在德比設有辦事處，畢業生的就業率非常高。

“You can’t expect people in China to know about Derby,” said Nick Slade, the university’s director of international development.

“你不能指望遠在中國的人們瞭解德比，”該校國際發展部主管尼克·斯萊德(Nick Slade)說。

Which is one of the reasons why the recruitment video features, among other international students, a Chinese student who describes her experience at Derby in Mandarin. Like other promotional material, the video will be posted on the university’s Chinese website.

這也是出鏡拍攝招生視頻的國際學生中，有一位中國學生的一個原因。她用普通話講述了自己在德比大學的求學經歷。和其他宣傳資料一樣，這個視頻也會放在該校的中文網站上。

“The actual students speak English well enough to read the English site, but it may be that their parents want to read the Chinese,” Mr. Slade said.

“實際上學生的英語都足夠好，完全可以瀏覽英文網站，但或許他們的父母想要瀏覽中文網站，”斯萊德說。

Mr. Slade said competition for international students has become so strong among smaller, midlevel universities in Britain that Derby, which has about 1,000 international students, has pulled out all the stops, including offering pickup service from the airport and a buddy system to ease transition and getting the local police constable to set up a registration desk at the school so that foreign students no longer have to make the trek to the police station to register.

斯萊德稱，英國中小規模的大學對國際學生的爭奪趨於白熱化，擁有約1000名國際學生的德比大學使出了渾身解數，包括提供機場接機服務，推出學伴制度，從而幫助國際學生順利度過過渡期，還讓當地警方在校園裏設立了登記處——這樣一來，外國學生就不必跑很遠的路，去警察局登記了。

“Everybody is offering more,” he said.

“所有人都爭相提供更多便利，”他說。

Although the student mobility report does not include ancillary information such as visa requirements and tuition fees, it is an important tool in a country where foreigners make up almost a third of all graduate students.

儘管研究生流動趨勢報告並不包含簽證要求、學費等輔助信息，但在一個國際學生幾乎佔研究生總數三分一的國家，它仍然有重要的參考意義。

Besides graduate students from China, Britain will continue to attract students from India; Britain is the second most popular destination for Indian students (many more Indian students go to the United States). By 2024, the study predicts, more graduate students will come to Britain from Nigeria than from India.

除了來自中國的研究生，英國也會繼續保持對印度學生的吸引力。在最受印度學生歡迎的留學目的地中，英國排名第二，選擇去美國求學的印度學生要多很多。研究報告預測，到2024年，來自尼日利亞的研究生將超過印度。

Attracting overseas graduate students, in particular, is important to universities. Not only do they bring their talents and skills to research and teaching, but foreign postgraduate students also tend to pay more in tuition than their undergraduate counterparts.

吸引海外研究生對大學來說格外重要。這些外國研究生不僅會把他們的才幹和技能應用到研究和教學工作中去，往往還會繳納高於本科留學生的學費。

Zainab Malik, the research director at the British Council, author of the study, said she was impressed by how British institutions would rely on just a few countries to fill their ranks of international graduate students. Like other experts, she encouraged British universities to diversify.

這項研究報告的執筆者、英國文化教育協會研究主管扎伊納布·馬利克(Zainab Malik)說，讓她印象深刻的是，英國教育機構的國際研究生來源主要是少數幾個國家。和其他業內人士一樣，她鼓勵英國大學加大生源的多樣性。

“China is nothing to scoff at,” she said, referring to the country’s vast output of international graduate students. “But if half of your growth comes from China, that is perfectly good and perfectly respectable — but it is risky.”

“不能小看中國，”她在談到中國輸出的大量國際研究生時說，“但如果增長的招生人數有一半是由中國貢獻的，雖然很好、很可觀，但卻潛藏着風險。”

Dr. Shaun Curtis, director of the international development and recruitment office at the University of Exeter, agreed.

埃克塞特大學(University of Exeter)國際發展與招生辦公室主任肖恩·柯蒂斯博士(Shaun Curtis)對此表示贊同。

“You want an international population, and that means recruiting the best and brightest from all around the world,” he said, explaining that Exeter was actively searching for smaller, growing markets like India or countries in sub-Saharan Africa to reduce the heavy reliance on Chinese students.

柯蒂斯表示，“需要擁有國際化的生源，這就意味要從世界各地招收最優秀、最聰明的學生。”他解釋說，爲了降低對中國生源的依賴，埃克塞特大學正在印度或撒哈拉以南非洲國家等規模較小但日漸增長的市場積極招生。

The shift toward a diverse international field is quite expensive, said Dr. Curtis, whose department, International Exeter, employs 31 people, with two other full-time employees assisting with recruitment in Bangalore, India.

柯蒂斯稱，國際生源多元化的戰略轉向成本相當高昂。他所在的部門——埃克塞特大學國際部(International Exeter)——擁有31名員工，另外還有兩名全職員工在印度班加羅爾協助招生。

Exeter’s attempts to diversify its international student population and reduce its reliance on China appear to be working. While 38 percent of the roughly 4,000 international students came from China in 2012, this year only 32 percent are Chinese.

埃克塞特大學推動國際生源多樣化、降低對中國生源依賴度的努力似乎正在起作用。2012年，在該校約4000名國際學生中，有38%來自中國；今年的比例則只有32%。

Dr. Curtis said that these changes in Exeter’s recruitment of international students have nothing to do with an anti-Chinese bias. Rather, the university is focused on bringing a diverse group of international students to a wide range of courses, subjects and academic levels.

柯蒂斯說，埃克塞特大學在招收國際學生方面的變化與針對中國的偏見無關。確切地說，該校正致力於讓多元化的國際學生羣體，涉獵多種多樣、程度各異的課程和科目。