India sends the most students to the US

WASHINGTON, November 13 2007
IANS

For the sixth year in a row India sent the most number of students to the US in 2006-07 with a 10 percent increase taking the numbers to 83,833, according to a new report on international educational exchange. China remained in second place, with numbers up eight percent to 67,723 and South Korea, in third place, increased six percent to 62,392, said the annual Open Doors report released Monday by the Institute of International Education.

India also dominated with one in seven (14.4 percent) of the total of 582,984 international students who together contributed about $14.5 billion to the US economy through their expenditure on tuition and living expenses, said the report.

The US Department of Commerce considers US higher education as the country's fifth largest service sector export as these students bring money into the national economy and provide revenue to their host states for living expenses, health insurance, support for accompanying family members, and other miscellaneous items.

Published with support from the US Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, the Open Doors 2007 report noted that 61.5 percent of all international students receive the majority of their funds from personal and family sources.

When other sources of foreign funding are included, such as assistance from their home country governments or universities, a total of two thirds (66 percent) of all international students' primary funding comes from sources outside of the US.

Not only did India send the most students to the US, it also attracted more US students with their numbers going up to 2,115, up 20 percent. Israel followed with 1,981, up 22.5 percent, and Peru was third with 1,135, up 31 percent.

However, Britain was once again the leading destination for study abroad by American students, with a total of 32,109 followed by Italy (26,078) and Spain (21,881) in the third place. The total went up by 8.5 percent to 223,534.

The majority of students from India were enrolled for study at the graduate level (71.1 percent) in academic year 2006-07. While 15 percent joined at the undergraduate level, 12.8 percent joined at other levels and 1.2 percent came for optional practical training.

An accompanying fall (autumn) 2007 survey also indicated that new enrolments from most countries seem to be increasing with 38 percent institutions reporting increases versus 16 percent reporting declines from India.

In the case of China, 53 percent reported increases versus 10 percent reporting declines. The numbers for Korea were 35 percent increases versus 17 percent declines.

Sixty percent (417) of all responding institutions have taken special steps to ensure that the number of international students on their campuses does not decline. International student recruitment trips thus seem to have concentrated mainly on Asia, with China, Korea, and India as most popular recruitment destinations.

Asia remained the largest sending region, accounting for 59 percent of total US international enrolments, and increasing by 5 percent this year. The number of students from South and Central Asia increased by 10 percent, driven by the large increases from India, while enrolments from Pakistan and Bangladesh declined.

The number of students from 12 of the top 20 places of origin increased in 2006-07. Of the eight countries in the top 20 that experienced declines, only three decreased by more than three percent.

Among the leading fields of study for international students in the US, business remains the leading field with 18 percent of the total, closely followed by engineering with 15 percent.

The field that experienced the largest increase in enrolments was intensive English, up 30 percent from the previous year.

Increases in international student enrolments were reported in nearly every state with colleges and universities in California attracting the largest number of foreign students with 77,987, up 3.5 percent, followed by New York with 65,884, up 2.5 percent, and Texas with 49,081, up five percent.

The New York City metropolitan area was the leading destination for international students, with 51,973 enrolled in area schools. The Los Angeles metropolitan area followed with 35,870 international students.

For the sixth consecutive year, the University of Southern California enrolled the largest number of international students, with a record 7,115. Columbia University remains in second place with 5,937 international students and New York University moved up to third place this year with 5,827 international students.