American Students Going Overseas for their Degrees?

Here is an interesting trend that was reported in the Herald Tribune today. More and more American students are opting to study overseas--not just a semester abroad as in the past, but for all 4 years.

One of the biggest draws is the price. Even as a foreign student the cost for an American to attend a school in Canada or the UK is well below the cost of a private university in the US.

The foreign universities benefit as well because tuition from foreign students means more revenue for them. Schools like St. Andrews in Scotland which is cited in this article are now heavily recruiting in the US market.

It will be interesting to see how further commoditization of post-secondary education impacts the US Education system in the future! To read the full article click here.

Trends in Post-Secondary Degrees

In his book "A Whole New Mind", Daniel Pink talks about how "a master of fine arts, an MFA, is now one of the hottest credentials". In fact he goes so far as to call the MFA the new MBA.

Data from the U.S. National Center for Education's Digest of Education Statistics does show a dramatic increase of Visual and Performing Art Bachelor degrees (top blue line) between 1980 and 2005.

Computer Science (green line) appears to be levelling since 2002 and engineering and architecture degrees have remained fairly flat over time.

In looking at trends in MBA and MFA degrees it does not look like Pink's claims have impacted the number of degrees granted in these fields to date. As of 2005, MBA degrees still far outnumber MFA degrees. However, it may be too soon to see the changes that Pink is talking about.