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I N T E R N A T I O N A L S T U D E N T T R E N D S
In 2020/21, the total number of international students at U.S. universities declined by 15% to 914,095 students.
Total int’l students
% change
Total U.S. higher education
* % int’l
2016/17 1,078,822 3.4 20,185,000 5.3
2017/18 1,094,792 1.5 19,831,000 5.5
2018/19 1,095,299 0.05 19,828,000 5.5
2019/20 1,075,496 -1.8 19,720,000 5.5
2020/21 914,095 -15.0 19,744,000 4.6
N E W I N T E R N A T I O N A L S T U D E N T E N R O L L M E N T
New int’l students
% change
2016/17 290,836 -3.3
2017/18 271,738 -6.6 2018/19 269,383 -0.9 2019/20 267,712 -0.6 2020/21 145,528 -45.6
U . S . S T A T E S H O S T I N G I N T E R N A T I O N A L S T U D E N T S
2019/20 2020/21 % change California 160,592 132,758 -17.3 New York 126,911 106,894 -15.8 Texas 77,097 67,428 -12.5 Massachusetts 73,695 66,273 -10.1 Illinois 51,966 44,004 -15.3 Pennsylvania 50,070 42,477 -15.2 Florida 46,221 39,179 -15.2 Ohio 35,508 29,979 -15.6 Michigan 31,408 27,454 -12.6 Indiana 28,136 23,948 -14.9 Other States 393,892 333,701 -15.3
A C A D E M I C L E V E L T R E N D S O F I N T E R N A T I O N A L S T U D E N T S
Under- graduate
% change Graduate
% change
2018/19 431,930 -2.4 377,943 -1.3 2019/20 419,321 -2.9 374,435 -0.9 2020/21 359,787 -14.2 329,272 -12.1
Non- degree
% change OPT
% change
2018/19 62,341 -5.0 223,085 9.6 2019/20 58,201 -6.6 223,539 0.2 2020/21 21,151 -63.7 203,885 -8.8
I N T E R N A T I O N A L S T U D E N T S
2021 Fast Facts
P L A C E S O F O R I G I N O F I N T E R N A T I O N A L S T U D E N T S
2019/20 2020/21 % of total % change
WORLD TOTAL 1,075,496 914,095 100.0 -15.0 China 372,532 317,299 34.7 -14.8 India 193,124 167,582 18.3 -13.2 South Korea 49,809 39,491 4.3 -20.7 Canada 25,992 25,143 2.8 -3.3 Saudi Arabia 30,957 21,933 2.4 -29.2 Vietnam 23,777 21,631 2.4 -9.0 Taiwan 23,724 19,673 2.2 -17.1 Brazil 16,671 14,000 1.5 -16.0 Mexico 14,348 12,986 1.4 -9.5 Nigeria 13,762 12,860 1.4 -6.6 Japan 17,554 11,785 1.3 -32.9 Nepal 12,730 11,172 1.2 -12.2 Iran 11,451 9,614 1.1 -16.0 Bangladesh 8,838 8,598 0.9 -2.7 Turkey 9,481 8,109 0.9 -14.5 United Kingdom 10,756 8,028 0.9 -25.4 Indonesia 8,300 7,489 0.8 -9.8 Pakistan 7,939 7,475 0.8 -5.8 Colombia 7,787 7,107 0.8 -8.7 Kuwait 8,375 6,846 0.7 -18.3 Venezuela 6,855 6,122 0.7 -10.7 Hong Kong 6,778 5,878 0.6 -13.3 Spain 7,954 5,781 0.6 -27.3 France 8,471 5,643 0.6 -33.4 Germany 9,242 5,364 0.6 -42.0 Other Places of Origin 168,289 146,486 16.1 -13.0
U . S . I N S T I T U T I O N S H O S T I N G I N T E R N A T I O N A L S T U D E N T S , 2 0 2 0 / 2 1
New York University New York NY 17,050 Northeastern University - Boston Boston MA 15,880 Columbia University New York NY 15,015 University of Southern California Los Angeles CA 14,992 Arizona State University - Tempe Tempe AZ 13,015 University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign Champaign IL 12,838 University of California - San Diego La Jolla CA 10,824 Boston University Boston MA 10,646 Purdue University - West Lafayette West Lafayette IN 10,500 University of California - Los Angeles Los Angeles CA 10,273 University of California - Berkeley Berkeley CA 9,184 University of Washington Seattle WA 8,777 University of Texas - Dallas Richardson TX 8,475 Pennsylvania State University - University Park University Park PA 8,267 University of Michigan - Ann Arbor Ann Arbor MI 8,252 University of California - Irvine Irvine CA 7,766 University of California - Davis Davis CA 7,422 Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh PA 7,396 University of Wisconsin - Madison Madison WI 7,139 Ohio State University - Columbus Columbus OH 6,865 All Other Institutions - - 703,519
*Projection of Total U.S. Higher Education. Source: National Center for Education Statistics, 2020.
The Institute of International Education (IIE) has conducted an annual census of international students at U.S. universities since its founding in 1919. Known as the Open Doors Report since 1954, and supported by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the U.S. Department of State since 1972, the report provides detailed data on student flows into and out of the U.S. Visit us online at: http://www.opendoorsdata.org.
Note: Percent distribution may not total 100.0 due to rounding Note: Numbers include both enrolled international students and international students on Optional Practical Training (OPT) for all tables except new enrollments.
Open Doors 2021 included international students enrolled at U.S. higher education institutions in the United States and online from abroad, and those on Optional Practical Training (OPT).
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1960/61 1970/71 1980/81 1990/91 2000/01 2010/11 2020/21
S E L E C T E D F I E L D S O F S T U D Y 2019/20 2020/21 % of total % change Engineering 220,542 190,590 20.9 -13.6 Math and Computer Science 205,207 182,106 19.9 -11.3 Business and Management 174,470 145,658 15.9 -16.5 Social Sciences 84,440 76,419 8.4 -9.5 Physical and Life Sciences 81,971 75,029 8.2 -8.5 Fine and Applied Arts 64,501 51,101 5.6 -20.8 Health Professions 34,934 32,468 3.6 -7.1 Communications and Journalism 23,925 20,613 2.3 -13.8 Education 15,700 15,402 1.7 -1.9 Intensive English 21,301 8,355 0.9 -60.8
U . S . S T U D E N T S S T U D Y I N G A B R O A D
I N T E R N A T I O N A L S T U D E N T S ( C O N T ’ D )
H O S T R E G I O N S 2018/19 2019/20 % of total % change Europe 193,422 94,230 57.9 -51.3 Latin America & Caribbean 47,954 21,819 13.4 -54.5 Asia 40,602 14,792 9.1 -63.6 Oceania 15,434 11,529 7.1 -25.3 Multiple Destinations 26,074 8,836 5.4 -66.1 Sub-Saharan Africa 13,455 5,444 3.3 -59.5 Middle East & North Africa 7,965 5,134 3.2 -35.5 North America 2,107 833 0.5 -60.5 Antarctica 86 16 0.0 -81.4
D E S T I N A T I O N S 2018/19 2019/20 % of total % change WORLD TOTAL 347,099 162,633 100.0 -53.1 Spain 33,849 19,792 12.2 -41.5 Italy 39,043 19,731 12.1 -49.5 United Kingdom 39,358 19,147 11.8 -51.4 France 18,465 8,528 5.2 -53.8 Australia 10,665 8,252 5.1 -22.6 Ireland 11,777 4,712 2.9 -60.0 Germany 12,029 4,512 2.8 -62.5 Costa Rica 8,333 3,917 2.4 -53.0 Japan 8,928 3,406 2.1 -61.9 Denmark 4,846 3,130 1.9 -35.4 New Zealand 4,233 3,096 1.9 -26.9 Mexico 6,340 2,999 1.8 -52.7
Czech Republic 5,480 2,667 1.6 -51.3
China 11,639 2,481 1.5 -78.7 Netherlands 4,182 2,202 1.4 -47.3 South Africa 5,278 2,159 1.3 -59.1 South Korea 4,558 1,942 1.2 -57.4 Argentina 3,317 1,920 1.2 -42.1 Israel 3,532 1,893 1.2 -46.4 Greece 5,834 1,829 1.1 -68.6 Ecuador 3,675 1,787 1.1 -51.4 India 3,366 1,736 1.1 -48.4 Austria 3,039 1,405 0.9 -53.8 Chile 3,190 1,332 0.8 -58.2 Thailand 2,859 1,228 0.8 -57.0 Other Destinations 89,284 36,830 22.6 -58.7
P A R T I C I P A T I O N U.S. study
abroad total U.S. higher
education total %
All U.S. undergraduates studying abroad in academic year 2019/20
147,345 16,016,843* 0.9
All U.S. undergraduates who study abroad during their degree program
147,345 2,776,051 ** 5.3
U.S. Bachelor’s students who study abroad during their undergraduate program
146,044 1,866,449 *** 7.8
D U R A T I O N O F S T U D Y A B R O A D 2018/19 2019/20 % change Short-term 8 weeks or less during the academic year 91,017 48,437 -46.8 Summer term 134,249 1,352 -99.0 Mid-length (One/two quarters or semester) 114,077 106,879 -6.3 Long-term (Academic or calendar year) 7,756 5,965 -23.1
O T H E R F O R M S O F E D U C A T I O N A B R O A D In addition to the 162,633 U.S. students who received academic credit for study abroad in 2019/20, 252 institutions reported that an additional 11,256 U.S. students participated in non-credit work, internships, volunteering, and research abroad.
In 2019/20, the total number of U.S. students who studied abroad for academic credit declined by 53% to 162,633 students.
Note: C yprus and Turkey are included in Europe; Mexico is included in Latin America
P R I M A R Y S O U R C E O F F U N D I N G 2020/21 % of total Personal and Family 493,889 54.0 Current Employment 207,679 22.7 U.S. College or University 168,234 18.4 Foreign Government or University 22,709 2.5 Foreign Private Sponsor 4,304 0.5 U.S. Private Sponsor 2,130 0.2 U.S. Government 1,058 0.1 International Organization 501 0.1 Other Sources of Funding 13,591 1.5
U.S. Higher Education Data Source: National Center for Education Statistics, 2020
S E L E C T E D F I E L D S O F S T U D Y 2018/19 2019/20 % of total % change
Business and Management 71,792 33,829 20.8 -52.9
Social Sciences 59,158 31,239 19.2 -47.2
Foreign Language & Int’l Studies 23,833 12,749 7.8 -46.5
Physical and Life Sciences 28,197 12,078 7.4 -57.2
Fine and Applied Arts 23,791 11,154 6.9 -53.1
R A C E / E T H N I C I T Y 2018/19 2019/20
White 68.7 70.0
Hispanic or Latino(a) 10.9 10.6
Asian or Pacific Islander 8.9 8.6
Black or African-American 6.4 5.5
Multiracial 4.7 4.8
American Indian or Alaska Native 0.4 0.5
* Total undergraduate enrollment in the United States * * U.S. students receiving Associate and Bachelor’s degrees * * *U.S. students receiving Bachelor’s degrees Note: The numbers above do not include international students enrolled at U.S. higher education institutions studying abroad for academic credit.
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