2017大學排行榜折射留學熱

LONDON - The compilers of a leading league table of the world's top universities on Tuesday reported an "unstoppable rise" in the numbers of students choosing to travel abroad to study.

倫敦——編制全球頂級大學排行榜的調查公司在9月11日發佈報告稱，選擇前往國外留學的學生人數出現“勢不可擋的增長勢頭”。

"Global student mobility is on a seemingly unstoppable rise, with those seeking an overseas education targeting the leading universities," wrote John O'Leary, an academic adviser to the consulting and research firm Quacquarelli Symonds in London, which produces the annual QS World Universities Rankings.

位於倫敦的QS諮詢研究公司(Quacquarelli Symonds)發佈了年度QS全球大學排行榜，這家公司的學術顧問約翰·奧萊利(John O’Leary)寫道，“全球出國留學人數出現勢不可擋的增長勢頭，這些學生選擇在國外的頂級大學接受教育。”

"Even after considerable growth in recent years, the latest rankings show an extraordinary rise of almost 10 percent in international student numbers at the top 100 universities," he wrote.

他指出，“最新公佈的大學排行榜顯示，即使近年來出國留學人數增長可觀，全球排名前100位大學招收的國際學生人數依然增長了近10%。”

This year's listings saw the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T.) overtake Cambridge University as the top place in the influential league table, which is based on a range of factors that include the opinions of academics and prospective employers.

在今年的全球大學排行榜上，麻省理工學院（Massachusetts Institute of Technology，簡稱MIT）超過劍橋大學(Cambridge University)，在最有影響力的頂級大學榜單上榮登榜首，這份排行榜根據一系列因素進行衡量，包括學界和潛在僱主的評價。

U.S. and British institutions continued to dominate the QS rankings, which were introduced in 2004, occupying all of the top 10 places.

美國和英國大學依然佔據QS全球大學排行榜的主導地位，在這份自2004年開始統計的榜單上，全球前10名大學均為英美高校。

QS's methodology factors foreign student and faculty numbers into the rankings and that was reflected in this year's outcome.

QS公司編制排行榜的方法考慮了外國學生和教師人數的因素，這在今年的榜單上有所反映。

"Cambridge, for example, has seen a significant increase in international students, but has dropped five places in this measure, contributing to its fall from first to second place in the overall ranking," Mr. O'Leary wrote.

奧萊利表示，“比如説，劍橋大學的國際學生人數雖然一直在顯著增長，但是該項指標的排名下降五位，導致劍橋大學從全球大學排行榜的榜首下滑到第二位。”

Similarly, a drop in the ranking of the University of California at Berkeley - to 22nd place from 2nd in 2004 - reflected not only a comparatively poor faculty-to-student ratio, but also "low attractiveness for international faculty and students," according to Martin Ince, also a QS adviser.

同樣，美國加州大學伯克利分校(University of California at Berkeley)的排名也有所下降——從2004年的第二位下降到第22位——QS公司顧問馬丁·因斯(Martin Ince)表示，這不僅反映伯克利分校的師生比例相對較低，還表明這所學校“對國際教師和學生缺乏吸引力”。

QS noted that the most successful universities competed to attract the world's best students and faculty. "Simple evaluations of the proportion of international students and international faculty serve as indicators of an institution's diversity and international attractiveness," it said.

QS公司指出，最成功的大學爭先恐後地吸引全世界最優秀的學生和教師。這家公司表示，“對國際學生與國際教師的比例進行簡單評估，可以作為指標來衡量一所大學的多元化和國際吸引力。”

With a growing number of academic rankings being produced to help would-be students make their choice of university, criticism has been voiced about just how objective and scientific they are.

隨着越來越多的學術排名陸續出現，幫助即將邁入校門的學生選擇他們理想的大學，評論界表達了對這些排行榜客觀性和科學性的關注。

Ben Sowter, QS's director of research, acknowledged last year that rankings "were designed on an Anglophone model of what a university looks like."

QS公司的研究主管本·索特(Ben Sowter)去年承認，這些大學排行榜是“按照英語系國家的大學模式而設計的`”。

But D.D. Guttenplan quoted him in the IHT also saying that, with 3.4 million students studying outside their home countries, QS was committed to "helping international students make more informed choices."

但是記者D·D·古騰普蘭(D.D. Guttenplan)在《國際先驅論壇報》(IHT)引述他的話説，目前有340萬學生在本國以外的學校留學，QS公司致力於“幫助國際學生做出更合理的選擇”。

As my Rendezvous colleague Mark McDonald wrote this year, "Many Chinese families hire agents to help them navigate the applications process, and an agent's fee can range up to $10,000, plus an equally large bonus if the student gets into a school highly ranked by U.S. News & World Report, the QS rankings and the so-called Shanghai List."

就像與我一起在《國際先驅導報》“Rendezvous”博客撰稿的同事馬克·麥克唐納(Mark McDonald)今年撰文指出的那樣，“許多中國家庭聘請留學中介，幫助他們辦理大學申請流程，每位中介的收費最高可以達到1萬美元，如果學生進入在排行榜上位居前列的大學，比如《美國新聞世界報道》(U.S. News & World Report)、QS公司和所謂的上海排行榜，中介還能獲得同樣數額不菲的獎金。”

Traveling abroad to study has obvious attractions for students who want the best education available globally. There is also an economic incentive for the institutions themselves, and the countries that host them, in terms of fees and foreign earnings.

顯而易見，出國留學對那些想接受全球優質教育的學生來説很有吸引力。對於這些大學本身及其所在的國家而言，這也是學費和外匯收入方面的經濟刺激因素。

But mobility depends on the readiness of governments to allow access to foreign students. QS's Ben Sowter told the BBC that tougher British visa rules for international students could deter some from applying to British universities.

然而，出國留學取決於各國政府是否願意接受外國學生。QS公司研究主管本·索特向英國廣播公司(BBC)指出，英國更嚴格的簽證規定將讓部分國際學生放棄申請英國大學。