By far the majority of international students coming to the U.S. study in local universities and colleges. In the 2008/2009 academic year, the number of students studying at these higher education institutions rose 8% from the previous year to an all time high of 671 616. This increase in international enrollments is the largest year on year change since 1980/1981. Interestingly the number of “new” student enrollees – those entering the university or college for the first time – increased by 16%.
Students are mainly coming from :
India remains the leading place of origin for the eighth consecutive year, increasing by 9% to 103,260. Students from China, once again the second leading sender, increased 21% for a total of 98,510. South Korea, in third place, increased 9% to 75,065. Canada, the only non-Asian country in the top five, rose to fourth place with an increase of 2% to 29,697, surpassing Japan, now in fifth place after students declined for the fourth consecutive year, decreasing by 14% to 29,264. Taiwan remained in sixth place, with 28,065 students, a 3% decline. The number of students from Mexico, the seventh-leading sender, remained flat this year, with a total of 14,850
California hosted the largest number of students followed by New York and Texas. New York City is still the metropolitan destination of choice for the majority of international students. The universities that host the most international students are:
University of Southern California hosted the largest number of international students, this year reporting 7,482. New York University held in second place with 6,761 international students, and Columbia University, also holding steady in third place, hosted 6,685. Rounding out the top five 2008/09 host institutions are University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (6,570 students) and Purdue University (6,136 students). Open Doors reports that 172 U.S. campuses each hosted more than 1,000 students.
The most popular major for international students is Business and Management, followed by Engineering, Math and Computer Science.
