憑借豐富的院校資源以及開放多元的學習環境等優勢，美國曾連續多年穩居中國學生海外留學首選目的國“寶座”。但是，近日美國機構發布的數據顯示，中國赴美留學人數增幅已經連續7年下降。實際上，美國高校的國際學生入學總人數也在下降。赴美留學熱在降溫嗎？這背后究竟有何緣由？

Eduardo Munoz/Reuters

Competition for international college students is growing globally, and many US colleges want to bolster their numbers — to boost both diversity and their bottom line.

在全球范圍內，爭奪國際學生的角逐越來越激烈，許多美國高校希望增加學生的數量，以擴大生源多樣性，并增加收入。

But admissions staff have been hearing rumblings from students and parents abroad — some alarmed by news headlines about violence and bias incidents at US schools, others worried about real or potential visa restrictions.

但是，招生人員一直在聽到來自海外學生和家長的抱怨——有些人對美國學校的暴力和偏見事件的新聞感到震驚，還有一些人擔心實際或潛在的簽證限制。

Because of the political climate here, interest in coming to the US decreased for one-third of 2,104 prospective international students surveyed in February 2017.

2017年2月對2104名意向國際學生進行的調查表明，由于美國的政治環境，有三分之一的人赴美意愿下降。

But that's not the only factor fueling a recent decline in new international enrollments. After at least 12 years of steady growth, those numbers actually dipped before the election of Mr. Trump — by about 10,000 students in the fall of 2016, a 3 percent decline from the previous year.

然而，這并非導致最近美國國際學生入學人數下降的唯一因素。經過至少12年的穩步增長后，入學人數實際上在特朗普當選總統之前就已經下降了——2016年秋季，入學人數減少了大約1萬名，比前一年下降了3%。

Many American colleges have been working double time to allay worries — and to provide opportunities for international and domestic students to interact.

許多美國大學一直在努力讓大家打消顧慮，并為國際學生和國內學生提供交流的機會。

Tufts set up a travel hotline for international students and scholars. The University of New Hampshire sent representatives to China and India to encourage students who had been admitted to actually enroll. Temple hosted a week of activities, including a speed-dating style cultural exchange.

塔夫茨大學為國際學生和學者設立了旅游熱線。新罕布什爾州大學派出代表前往中國和印度，鼓勵被錄取的學生入學。坦普爾大學舉辦了為期一周的活動，其中包括一個速配風格的文化交流活動。

The US State Department continues to promote study here through its EducationUSA offices around the world.

美國國務院繼續通過其在世界各地的美國教育辦事處來推動赴美留學。

The State Department is issuing new screening guidelines for Chinese students studying in highly sensitive fields such as aviation and robotics, acknowledged Edward Ramotowski, the deputy assistant secretary for visa services in the department's Bureau of Consular Affairs, during a congressional hearing June 6.

國務院領事司負責簽證事務的副助理部長愛德華?拉莫托夫斯基6月6日在國會聽證會上承認，國務院針對航空和機器人等高度敏感專業的中國學生發布新的篩選規則。

New guidelines would require annual renewal of visas, primarily for Chinese graduate students in these fields. A State Department official would not confirm this, however, stating in an email that the maximum validity for a student visa for Chinese nationals is five years and is unchanged, and that consular officers have always had the right to limit the length of visas on a case-by-case basis.

新的篩選規則將要求每年續簽簽證，主要是針對在這些領域學習的中國研究生。不過，國務院的一名官員卻沒有證實這一點，他在一封電子郵件中說，中國公民的學生簽證有效期最長為5年，并未改變。領事官員有權針對個人限制簽證期限。

While the security concerns are important, the new guidelines, in conjunction with other immigration policies, could end up "contributing to a signal to foreign students that they're not welcome in the US," says Terry Hartle, senior vice president of the American Council on Education in Washington.

位于華盛頓的美國教育理事會資深副會長特里?哈特爾說，盡管安全問題是重要的，但新的篩選方針連同其他移民政策可能最終會“向外國學生發出這樣的信號：美國不歡迎他們”。

Kang, a Chinese citizen who attended graduate school at Columbia University in New York, recently launched Lighthouse Academy in Beijing, a business that consults with students there about study abroad, primarily in the US.

在紐約哥倫比亞大學就讀研究生課程的康先生最近在北京開設海外留學咨詢機構燈塔學院，主要提供美國留學咨詢服務。

Visa and safety concerns do make a difference for students, he writes in an email interview.

他在郵件采訪中說，簽證和安全問題確實會對學生產生影響。

Many parents have told him they fear discrimination against their children since Trump's election, and they've also been disturbed by violent crimes against several Chinese students in the US. Add to that the recent media coverage of gun violence and "it conjured up a logic that is solid to parents: US is not safe," he writes.

許多家長告訴他，自特朗普當選總統以來，他們擔心孩子受到歧視，而且他們也被一些針對在美中國學生的暴力犯罪所困擾。他寫道，再加之最近媒體對槍支暴力的報道，“讓許多家長相信：美國并不安全”。

Half his undergraduate clients ask if they can apply to the US and Canada or other countries at the same time. Still, many Chinese students who can get into top-ranked US universities and afford the tuition will probably attend despite concerns, he says.

有一半咨詢本科留學的客戶詢問是否可以同時申請美國和加拿大等國家的學校。盡管有擔憂，許多能夠獲得美國一流大學錄取并負擔得起學費的中國學生很可能還是會赴美讀書。

Even those who have been negatively affected by violence in the US have urged people to see the bigger picture. After the Santa Fe, Texas, high school shooter killed Pakistani exchange student Sabika Sheikh, her father, Abdul Aziz Sheikh, told the Associated Press: "One should not lose his heart by such kind of incidents…. One should not stop going for education to the US or UK, or China, or anywhere. One must go for education undeterred."

就連那些在美國受到暴力影響的人也敦促人們著眼全局。德克薩斯州圣達菲高中槍擊案導致巴基斯坦交換生薩比卡?謝赫去世。她的父親阿卜杜勒?阿齊茲?謝赫告訴美聯社說：“人們不應該因為這種事件失去勇氣。我們不應停止前往美國、英國、中國或任何地方接受教育。一個人必須接受教育，不要被嚇住。”

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翻譯&編輯：yaning