By MyongSool Chang
Translated by SeungYoun Woo


The population of Korean college students in MA is recorded as 2,864 in 2011, which increased by 110 compared to the record in 2010. The number of Korean students is rankedas the third highest number of international students in MA,following after Chinese, 8,281, and Indian, 4,682.

Institute of International Education, sponsored by the U.S. State Department, surveyed the current population of international students in the U.S. According to the data reported on November 14, the total number of Korean students in the U.S. is 73,351, which increased by 2% from the previous year. It increased again after a 3.9% decrease in 2010.

However, the number of Korean students in MA is 3.9% of the total number of Korean students in the U.S., which reveals that Korean students’ preference of this state is far behind that of other states.
While other international students prefer to study in MA because of its high concentration of leading colleges, such as Harvard, MIT, Tufts, BC, Brandeis, and BU, Korean students are still ignorant of this fact.

MA has the fourth most international students after California, New York, and Texas. Although MA is famously known as the city of education among international students from different countries, it seems it does not quite appeal to Korean students. According to the data below, the number of Korean students in MA stays at the sixth highest after that in California, New York, Illinois, Texas, and Pennsylvania.

Hyun Kwak, a Korean international student, said, “It’s because Massachusetts and Boston are too small compared to New York. New York attracts many Korean students not only because it is famously known in Korea but because its culture is highly advanced, and admission to NYU is relatively not that hard.”

Another Korean student said, “The University of Illinois has relatively cheap tuition since it’s a state college. Also, it’s well known in Korea. But other colleges, except Harvard, MIT, and BU, in Boston are not widely known.”

There are 633 Korean students in Rhode Island, 466 in Connecticut, and 221 in New Hampshire.
Currently, 11,359 Korean students are attending colleges in New York, including Columbia, Cornell, and NYU. Although it ranks the second highest, when the number is added with that of New Jersey, it passes the number of students-- 12,453-- in California.

On the other hand, the survey does not show the accurate number of Korean students, since students in high school and below are not included. Considering the fact that MA has relatively high number of Korean studentsstudying abroad at a young age, the rank of state preference by international students will be different.

ⓒ 보스톤코리아(http://www.bostonkorea.com), 무단전재 및 재배포 금지