'Struggle for US Grad School Slots'?

Both Science Insider and the Chronicle of Higher Education discuss a new Council of Graduate School report on international graduate admissions released this week, though the two publications differ somewhat in their interpretations of the data's implications. Science says that the CGS report suggests that "American students struggle for US grad school slots against foreign-born applicants," while the Chronicle touts the fact that "applications from international students to American graduate schools finally rebounded this year to their 2003 levels." According to the Chronicle, the CGS surveyed its 494 American graduate-school members — 249 of which replied — and, for the second year in a row, "questioned responding institutions about American citizens and permanent residents." The CGS found that applications from domestic and foreign students both rose by nine percent in 2010, and that initial offers of admission to prospective American students dropped by one percent. Interestingly, the CGS "also found that international applications increased across all broad fields of study, and initial offers of admission rose in all but one, life sciences," the Chronicle reports. According to Science, the one percent dip in initial offers of admission to domestic students suggests that "US citizens were less attractive this year to domestic graduate programs than were their international peers" and therefore they " had a much harder time getting into American graduate schools this past year than did their peers from … the rest of the world." The full CGS report is available here.