The summer Olympics don’t start until next month. But Chinese universities can already claim gold and silver medals in one important global competition involving institutions of higher learning. A new study has found that the most likely undergraduate alma mater for those who earned a Ph.D. in 2006 from a U.S. university was … Tsinghua University. Peking University, its neighbor in the Chinese capital, ranks second. Between 2004 and 2006, those two schools overtook the University of California, Berkeley, as the most fertile training ground for U.S. Ph.D.s (see graph). South Korea’s Seoul National University occupies fourth place behind Berkeley, followed by Cornell University and the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
“The United States is very attractive to Chinese students, and they are certainly taking advantage of the opportunity to study here,” says Judy Sui, director of data for Berkeley’s graduate division. “At the same time, Chinese officials are trying hard to improve their system of higher education so that their students don’t have to go abroad for graduate training.”
The rankings were compiled by the Commission on Professionals in Science and Technology from a survey conducted by the U.S. National Science Foundation. In part, they reflect the fact that 37% of doctoral recipients from U.S. universities are not U.S. citizens. Sui says they also point to the wider choice of good careers available to U.S. students who hold a bachelor’s or master’s degree; foreign-born students are more likely to need a Ph.D. to find
a good job, she says.
Berkeley still retains its top ranking for the number of undergraduates who went on to earn Ph.D.s over the past 10 years (1997 to 2006). But its total of 4298 isn’t that far ahead of Seoul’s 3420. And Tsinghua and Peking could well surpass their Korean rival in upcoming decadal tallies. –JEFFREY MERVIS
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