DUSHANBE, November 18, 2009, Asia-Plus — According to Open Doors 2009, the annual report on international academic mobility published by the Institute of International Education (IIE) with support from the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the United States Department of State, the number of students from Tajikistan enrolled in U.S. institutions of higher education decreased from 364 to 342, a 6% decrease over the 2007/08 academic year. This decline follows a 122% increase during the previous academic year, according to the U.S. Embassy in Dushanbe.
“The slight decrease in Tajik students studying in the United States in 2008 is understandable following the huge influx in 2007, but it is probably also due to the global economic crisis” said Rachel Cooke, U.S. Embassy Public Affairs Officer. “We look forward to an increase in the number of Tajiks studying in the U.S. as the global economic situation stabilizes.”
This year’s Open Doors report shows that the total number of international students at colleges and universities in the United States increased by 8% to an all-time high of 671,616 in the 2008/09 academic year. Open Doors data show an even stronger increase in the number of international students enrolled for the first time at a U.S. college or university in fall 2008. New international student enrollments rose by 15% in 2008, following on 10% increases in each of the previous two years.
To encourage greater interest in studying in the United States among Tajik students and provide information about opportunities to study abroad, the U.S. Embassy organized a weeklong series of information sessions, educational events, and speakers to commemorate the tenth annual International Education Week, November 16–20.
The opening ceremony for International Education Week, attended by more than 200 Tajik students, was held at the Dushanbe Pedagogical University on November 16, and it featured welcoming remarks by First Deputy Minister of Education Farhod Rahimov, University Rector Professor Zarif Sharifov, and U.S. Ambassador to Tajikistan Ken Gross.
The Open Doors report is published by the Institute of International Education, the leading not-for-profit educational and cultural exchange organization in the United States. IIE has conducted an annual statistical survey of the international students in the United States since 1919, and with support from the U.S. Department of State”s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs since the early 1970s. The census is based on a survey of approximately 3,000 accredited U.S. institutions. Open Doors also reports on surveys on international scholars at U.S. universities; international students enrolled in pre-academic Intensive English Programs; and on U.S. students studying abroad (since 1985).
