International student numbers hit record high, led by India

The United States hosted the highest number of international students on record in the 2023-24 academic year – 1,126,690 – and remains the world’s most attractive destination for students, the new Open Doors® report has revealed. India surpassed China as the largest source of overseas students, alongside a major increase in numbers from Sub-Saharan Africa.

This data was released during International Education Week, on Monday 18 November, by the New York-based Institute of International Education (IIE), which tracks enrolment trends for the US government and facilitates international exchanges.

Its annual Open Doors® Report on International Educational Exchange said that 1,126,690 international students were either enrolled at US higher education institutions or on ‘Optional Practical Training’ (OPT) workplace programmes supported by higher education institutions in the 2023-24 academic year.

That is an “all-time high”, said the report, and a 7% increase from 2022-23 numbers. There were also 18,129 international students enrolled on US-based higher education courses online, while remaining abroad physically.

Presenting the figures, based on surveys in nearly 3,000 US education institutions, Mirka Martel, head of research, evaluation and learning at IIE, stressed that the number of students staying in the US to gain work experience on OPT is also “at a record high, growing by 22% to 242,782 students” in the same period.

After a “sharp decrease in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic (…) these numbers have settled at high pre-pandemic levels”, with people from more than 210 places of origin choosing the US to study, she noted.

A major trend has been the surge in US-based higher education students moving from India, with numbers nearly doubling since the COVID-19 pandemic: “Together, India and China made up 54% of all international students in the United States,” Martel said.

The number of Indian students in the US in 2023-24 was 331,602. The second largest source – China – saw student numbers decreasing 4.2% from 2022-23 to 277,398 students. The next largest sources, representing far fewer students in 2023-24, were from South Korea (43,149), Canada (28,998) and Taiwan (23,157).

The Open Doors® 2024 report said that the largest increases in student numbers year-on-year in 2023-24 were from India (+23%), Nigeria (+14%), Bangladesh (+26%), Nepal (+11%), Iran (+15%), Pakistan (+8%), Colombia (+11%) and Ghana (+45%).

On the other hand, for instance, since 2016-17 the number of students from Saudi Arabia has been falling – decreasing from 52,611 to 14,828.

Martel added that a ‘Fall International Enrolments Snapshot Report 2024’ for the 2024-25 academic year, based on responses from more than 690 US higher education entities, showed that “the number of international students continues to increase” thus far by 3%.

“We are seeing increases at the undergraduate level at 6% and OPT continues to rise strongly at 12%”, said Martel, while “graduate numbers are stabilising with a modest 2% decrease”.

According to the report, 502,291 (44.6%) of the international students were graduate students and 56% of international students in 2023-24 studied in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) fields, mainly computer and information sciences.

“The top states hosting international students were California, New York, and Texas.” New York University, Northeastern University – Boston, and New York’s Columbia University had the highest numbers of overseas students in 2023-24, the report showed.

Martel mentioned that “international students contributed US$50 billion to the US economy in 2023 primarily through their education funding”, citing data from the US department of commerce, and that it strengthens US institutions.

Americans restore pre-pandemic trends of studying abroad

While foreign students flock to America, US students are also increasingly moving overseas for their studies.

The report also showed that 280,716 US students studied abroad for academic credit in 2022-23 (the most recent data available), up 49% year-on-year on 2021-22, albeit that was a year when the world was labouring under COVID-19 travel restrictions.

Of the total, 64% of US students travelled for summer courses of eight weeks or less. This is in contrast to visiting students to the US who generally prefer longer stays. American students were keen to gain knowledge on STEM (27%) and business and management (21%).

Europe hosted 64% of all US students, with six of the top 25 leading destinations – Italy, Japan, South Korea, Denmark, Greece and Singapore – reaching record highs in 2022-23.

Martel added that “Italy, the United Kingdom, Spain and France remained the leading host destinations” among the 180 countries in which US students pursued their studies.

“There were an additional 14,890 US students who participated in online global learning opportunities in 2023-24”, she said.

US keeps leading in students’ exchanges

“The United States remains the top host of international students worldwide,” in a world where globally student exchanges are growing, she said, mentioning that “in 2022, according to UNESCO, there were 6.9 million students who were globally mobile”, which is 8% more than in the previous year.

With nearly 4,000 higher education institutions, and with international students making up just 6% of total US higher education enrolment against what happens in other regions, “the United States does have the most capacity to host more international students”.

By contrast, Australia, the United Kingdom and Canada, for instance, have had to “consider more restrictive measures” because international students represent more in their overall student population, she noted.

At the same briefing, IIE CEO Allan Goodman said that international students “are seeing where the caps and restrictions are and gravitating to places where there are no caps, and that puts the United States in a very unique position”.

Despite the 4.2% decrease in the number of Chinese students in the US and the potential increase in trade and diplomatic tensions between China in a Donald Trump-led America, Goodman argued that the future forecast predicts “a lot of growth in international students coming to the United States” in the next four or five years.

“China makes up a very substantial portion” in it,” Goodman added. “They have been welcomed here all through periods of hot and cold and good and bad relationships.”

Optimism for the next four years

Given that president-elect Trump has promised strong restrictions on immigration into the US in the next four years, Goodman stressed that the US continues to have non-immigrant visas for students and is optimistic in a continued growth in foreign higher education enrolments.

In the past, international enrolment in the US has only been hit by the September 11 attacks in 2001 and the COVID-19 pandemic, he said.

Marianne Craven, acting deputy assistant secretary for academic programmes in the bureau of educational and cultural affairs at the US Department of State, added: “We have been a leader in international education for decades. We have seen it across different presidential administrations. (…) We really see it as crucial for collaboration and innovation, as well as for our diplomatic relations and for our future trade relations.”

She told journalists that the country keeps investing in exchange programmes to boost foreign student enrolments, such as the Fulbright Programme.

Craven added that the US is still making “a concerted effort to continue to recruit and attract Chinese students”, which “has been a priority for both governments at the highest levels”, while also “working very hard” to boost connections between US university delegations and Sub-Saharan Africa educators and students.

“We are thrilled that international students are choosing the United States for all the reasons that you know in terms of the quality and diversity of our institutions,” she said.