LONDON - The compilers of a leading league table of the world's top universities on Tuesday reported an "unstoppable rise" in the numbers of students choosing to travel abroad to study.
伦敦——编制全球顶级大学排行榜的调查公司在9月11日发布报告称，选择前往国外留学的学生人数出现“势不可挡的增长势头”。
"Global student mobility is on a seemingly unstoppable rise, with those seeking an overseas education targeting the leading universities," wrote John O'Leary, an academic adviser to the consulting and research firm Quacquarelli Symonds in London, which produces the annual QS World Universities Rankings.
位于伦敦的QS咨询研究公司(Quacquarelli Symonds)发布了年度QS全球大学排行榜，这家公司的学术顾问约翰·奥莱利(John O’Leary)写道，“全球出国留学人数出现势不可挡的增长势头，这些学生选择在国外的顶级大学接受教育。”
"Even after considerable growth in recent years, the latest rankings show an extraordinary rise of almost 10 percent in international student numbers at the top 100 universities," he wrote.
他指出，“最新公布的大学排行榜显示，即使近年来出国留学人数增长可观，全球排名前100位大学招收的国际学生人数依然增长了近10%。”
This year's listings saw the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T.) overtake Cambridge University as the top place in the influential league table, which is based on a range of factors that include the opinions of academics and prospective employers.
在今年的全球大学排行榜上，麻省理工学院（Massachusetts Institute of Technology，简称MIT）超过剑桥大学(Cambridge University)，在最有影响力的顶级大学榜单上荣登榜首，这份排行榜根据一系列因素进行衡量，包括学界和潜在雇主的评价。
U.S. and British institutions continued to dominate the QS rankings, which were introduced in 2004, occupying all of the top 10 places.
美国和英国大学依然占据QS全球大学排行榜的主导地位，在这份自2004年开始统计的榜单上，全球前10名大学均为英美高校。
QS's methodology factors foreign student and faculty numbers into the rankings and that was reflected in this year's outcome.
QS公司编制排行榜的方法考虑了外国学生和教师人数的因素，这在今年的榜单上有所反映。
"Cambridge, for example, has seen a significant increase in international students, but has dropped five places in this measure, contributing to its fall from first to second place in the overall ranking," Mr. O'Leary wrote.
奥莱利表示，“比如说，剑桥大学的国际学生人数虽然一直在显著增长，但是该项指标的排名下降五位，导致剑桥大学从全球大学排行榜的榜首下滑到第二位。”
Similarly, a drop in the ranking of the University of California at Berkeley - to 22nd place from 2nd in 2004 - reflected not only a comparatively poor faculty-to-student ratio, but also "low attractiveness for international faculty and students," according to Martin Ince, also a QS adviser.
同样，美国加州大学伯克利分校(University of California at Berkeley)的排名也有所下降——从2004年的第二位下降到第22位——QS公司顾问马丁·因斯(Martin Ince)表示，这不仅反映伯克利分校的师生比例相对较低，还表明这所学校“对国际教师和学生缺乏吸引力”。
QS noted that the most successful universities competed to attract the world's best students and faculty. "Simple evaluations of the proportion of international students and international faculty serve as indicators of an institution's diversity and international attractiveness," it said.
QS公司指出，最成功的大学争先恐后地吸引全世界最优秀的学生和教师。这家公司表示，“对国际学生与国际教师的比例进行简单评估，可以作为指标来衡量一所大学的多元化和国际吸引力。”
With a growing number of academic rankings being produced to help would-be students make their choice of university, criticism has been voiced about just how objective and scientific they are.
随着越来越多的学术排名陆续出现，帮助即将迈入校门的学生选择他们理想的大学，评论界表达了对这些排行榜客观性和科学性的关注。
Ben Sowter, QS's director of research, acknowledged last year that rankings "were designed on an Anglophone model of what a university looks like."
QS公司的研究主管本·索特(Ben Sowter)去年承认，这些大学排行榜是“按照英语系国家的大学模式而设计的”。
But D.D. Guttenplan quoted him in the IHT also saying that, with 3.4 million students studying outside their home countries, QS was committed to "helping international students make more informed choices."
但是记者D·D·古腾普兰(D.D. Guttenplan)在《国际先驱论坛报》(IHT)引述他的话说，目前有340万学生在本国以外的学校留学，QS公司致力于“帮助国际学生做出更合理的选择”。
As my Rendezvous colleague Mark McDonald wrote this year, "Many Chinese families hire agents to help them navigate the applications process, and an agent's fee can range up to $10,000, plus an equally large bonus if the student gets into a school highly ranked by U.S. News & World Report, the QS rankings and the so-called Shanghai List."
就像与我一起在《国际先驱导报》“Rendezvous”博客撰稿的同事马克·麦克唐纳(Mark McDonald)今年撰文指出的那样，“许多中国家庭聘请留学中介，帮助他们办理大学申请流程，每位中介的收费最高可以达到1万美元，如果学生进入在排行榜上位居前列的大学，比如《美国新闻世界报道》(U.S. News & World Report)、QS公司和所谓的上海排行榜（指由上海交通大学发布的世界大学学术排名——译注），中介还能获得同样数额不菲的奖金。”
Traveling abroad to study has obvious attractions for students who want the best education available globally. There is also an economic incentive for the institutions themselves, and the countries that host them, in terms of fees and foreign earnings.
显而易见，出国留学对那些想接受全球优质教育的学生来说很有吸引力。对于这些大学本身及其所在的国家而言，这也是学费和外汇收入方面的经济刺激因素。
But mobility depends on the readiness of governments to allow access to foreign students. QS's Ben Sowter told the BBC that tougher British visa rules for international students could deter some from applying to British universities.
然而，出国留学取决于各国政府是否愿意接受外国学生。QS公司研究主管本·索特向英国广播公司(BBC)指出，英国更严格的签证规定将让部分国际学生放弃申请英国大学。
翻译：孟洁冰
