The Fraction of Physics Graduate Students

The fraction of physics graduate students coming to the US from abroad has declined since the 2000/2001 academic year, reversing a steady climb that had been in effect since 1970. The fraction of non-US first year grad students grew from about 20% in 1970 to a peak of 55% in 2001. However, in the past two years the fraction has eased back to less than 50%, a new report shows. Two-thirds of the PhD-granting physics departments in the US say that at least some of their admitted students from abroad have been unable to attend owing to visa problems. Students from China and from the Middle East seem to have had the most trouble entering the US. ("Physics Students from Abroad in the Post-9/11 Era," report prepared by the Statistical Research Center at the American Institute of Physics; contact Patrick J. Mulvey; a copy of the report can be obtained at http://www.aip.org/statistics/trends/undtrends.htm)