Italy always fascinates. It may be the history, the art, the culture, but the Bel Paese attracts millions of people every year. Tourists, workers, but also students. Even from the United States of America, the country in the world that hosts the most young people from abroad who come to train (or specialize) in the prestigious North American universities.
In short, we who complain about our academic system, we still go abroad too little. On the other hand, those who boast a university network that attracts young people from all over the world often choose an adventure away from home. And more often than not, right in the land of Dante.
The data is contained in «Open Doors» report of the Institute of International Education (IIE), the American organization that manages academic exchanges to and from abroad, and Fulbright scholarships.
Italy is in fact in the top five favorite destinations, with 28 presences, behind only Great Britain with 32.600 arrivals, while Spain is growing and is in third place with 25. Fourth and fifth are France and China, while further behind are Germany, Ireland, Australia, Mexico and Japan with less than 10 "exchanged" children.
Costs range from $4.200 for the summer, up to $10.300 for a semester. Most of the students come to study in English subjects useful for their American degree, but still choose to do so in Italy. “The reason – he explains Allan Goodman, president of the IIE – is that you have everything: a beautiful country, with a great cultural tradition, where you can study from economics to fashion. You have always been an inspiration to the United States, and many Americans have roots from you".
However, the perspective is reversed by looking at the incoming data, or from which countries do the students who choose the States for degrees, doctorates, specializations, masters come from? In that case the Italians, the famous "brain drain", are just 4.308, against 9.458 Germans, 8.947 British and 8.098 French, not to mention the 157.558 Chinese or of the 103.895 Indians, which are the first two countries of origin ahead of South Korea, Canada and Taiwan (these 5 countries alone account for 54% of the flow). Even Kenya beats us, with 4.666 students.
How come? “I think Goodman replies – that a lot depends on the economic crisis. The costs of our universities have skyrocketed, and many are struggling to support them, also because two thirds of foreign students in the United States do not receive scholarships and have to pay for everything themselves".
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But the crisis is for everyone, let alone for the Kenyans. If we are behind the Germans, English, French and Spanish (4.330), it is perhaps because we give less importance to the international aspect of education, which instead is growing in the US and everywhere.
And what do you mainly go to study in the USA? Especially Business and Management, of which the Chinese are the greatest visitors, while the Indians are destined to become future engineers. Koreans, for example, are more imaginative, and also choose Social Sciences, Arts, and an unspecified "other" at 15%.
In any case, one thing is certain: both on one side and on the other, the ticket is almost never a one-way ticket. “Chinese and Indians come en masse – explains Goodman – because there are more of them, but also because they value the quality of the education they receive here. This is demonstrated by the fact that the majority go back to work in their countries of origin: they don't come to look for a job, but to specialize“. A reasoning that the Americans also make: “Our students abroad are increasing because they consider these experiences fundamental. They see their future in the global economy, and to be successful in this market you need to keep your eyes open to the world".
