For what it is worth, I worked for ten years for the physics dept at one of the universities for which statistics were listed in the article. I got to know a lo

For what it is worth, I worked for ten years for the physics dept at one of the universities for which statistics were listed in the article. I got to know a lot of professors, a few deans, administrators, you know, the people who decide which students get admitted. I've had, and overheard this conversation with them a few times. It always comes down to money. American students won't live six deep in a one bedroom apartment in the low-rent part of town, like many of their foreign counterparts who come from a developing country. I got downvoted yesterday for saying it was about the money, but it's about the money. If your family is well off and doesn't mind footing the huge bill for you, then you can do it. Most of the kids who are smart enough to do post baccalaureate science work, can see that they will never get out of debt, so they don't. Other American students who I have seen make it to a PhD in Physics, had a supportive spouse, and often enough go into geophysics since there is money there. PS It's about the money.