FEOS wrote:
671,616/104,000 = 645.79%
We can do this all day, Turq.
Your comparison is flawed. You're weighting makes no sense, as the total population of college students in a given country has no bearing on the number of international students in total attending college there. In fact, the higher population levels in general in the US would mask that metric, given your weighting schema.
My weighting makes no sense? So, somehow, assuming that total amounts of international students per system, regardless of size differences in systems, is more relevant than proportional amounts of international students per system?
It absolutely has a bearing on the number of students that apply and get accepted. State schools, in particular, usually have a student body percentage quota that must consist of local students, because state taxes pay for these schools. So the percentage and number of international students even allowed in a college are somewhat limited by policy rather than desirability. This applies to both American colleges and colleges in other countries. So, if there's any problem with my metric here, it's not so much focusing on the percentage of international students per system as it is not taking into account these quotas.
The total number of students has very little bearing on desirability, because again, that's more a reflection of the size of the school, its affordability, and cultural/language factors.
FEOS wrote:
Raw numbers are what matter here, not weighted numbers. Your east coast vs. west coast argument is irrelevant, as well. That likely boils down to cost vs value. Harvard and other Ivy League schools are overly proud of their degrees, when in the technical world, their names mean marginally more than those from other schools. Thus, the value of the extra cost simply isn't there. So you see people putting their educational investment dollars elsewhere.
Pretty easily explained, really.
Raw numbers do not matter at all. I will concede with you on the value factor, but again, to assume that raw totals are the best measure is extremely myopic.
Last edited by Turquoise (2010-02-16 18:33:12)