凭借丰富的院校资源以及开放多元的学习环境等优势，美国曾连续多年稳居中国学生海外留学首选目的国“宝座”。但是，近日美国机构发布的数据显示，中国赴美留学人数增幅已经连续7年下降。实际上，美国高校的国际学生入学总人数也在下降。

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.

在全球范围内，争夺国际学生的角逐越来越激烈，许多美国高校希望增加学生的数量，以扩大生源多样性，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，招生人员一直在听到来自海外学生和家长的抱怨——有些人对美国学校的暴力和偏见事件的新闻感到震惊，还有一些人担心实际或潜在的签证限制。

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月对2104名意向国际学生进行的调查表明，由于美国的政治环境，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，这并非导致最近美国国际学生入学人数下降的唯一因素。经过至少12年的稳步增长后，入学人数实际上在特朗普当选总统之前就已经下降了——2016年秋季，入学人数减少了大约1万名，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.

许多美国大学一直在努力让大家打消顾虑，并为国际学生和国内学生提供交流的机会。

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.

塔夫茨大学为国际学生和学者设立了旅游热线。新罕布什尔州大学派出代表前往中国和印度，鼓励被录取的学生入学。坦普尔大学举办了为期一周的活动，其中包括一个速配风格的文化交流活动。

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

美国国务院继续通过其在世界各地的美国教育办事处来推动赴美留学。

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.

国务院领事司负责签证事务的副助理部长爱德华•拉莫托夫斯基6月6日在国会听证会上承认，国务院针对航空和机器人等高度敏感专业的中国学生发布新的筛选规则。

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.

新的筛选规则将要求每年续签签证，主要是针对在这些领域学习的中国研究生。不过，国务院的一名官员却没有证实这一点，他在一封电子邮件中说，中国公民的学生签证有效期最长为5年，并未改变。领事官员有权针对个人限制签证期限。

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.

位于华盛顿的美国教育理事会资深副会长特里•哈特尔说，尽管安全问题是重要的，但新的筛选方针连同其他移民政策可能最终会“向外国学生发出这样的信号：美国不欢迎他们”。

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.

在纽约哥伦比亚大学就读研究生课程的康先生最近在北京开设海外留学咨询机构灯塔学院，主要提供美国留学咨询服务。

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

他在邮件采访中说，签证和安全问题确实会对学生产生影响。

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.

许多家长告诉他，自特朗普当选总统以来，他们担心孩子受到歧视，而且他们也被一些针对在美中国学生的暴力犯罪所困扰。他写道，再加之最近媒体对枪支暴力的报道，“让许多家长相信：美国并不安全”。

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.

有一半咨询本科留学的客户询问是否可以同时申请美国和加拿大等国家的学校。尽管有担忧，许多能够获得美国一流大学录取并负担得起学费的中国学生很可能还是会赴美读书。

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."

就连那些在美国受到暴力影响的人也敦促人们着眼全局。德克萨斯州圣达菲高中枪击案导致巴基斯坦交换生萨比卡•谢赫去世。她的父亲阿卜杜勒•阿齐兹•谢赫告诉美联社说：“人们不应该因为这种事件失去勇气。我们不应停止前往美国、英国、中国或任何地方接受教育。一个人必须接受教育，不要被吓住。”