文章基本信息

标题：BY THE NUMBERS
期刊名称：The Presidency
印刷版ISSN：1099-3681
出版年度：2005
卷号：Spring 2005
出版社：American Council on Education

BY THE NUMBERS

A digest of higher education data

International Student Enrollment in U.S. Colleges and Universities Declines

In 2003-04, the number of international students enrolled in U.S. colleges and universities decreased by 2.4 percent from the previous academic year, according to Open Doors 2004, a report by the Institute of International Education. This decline follows major changes in foreign student visa policies in the United States.

Before 2003-04, the number of foreign students enrolled in U.S. higher education institutions had increased continuously for more than 50 years, though only a nominal increase (0.6 percent) occurred in 2002-03. In addition, the 2003-04 decline occurred only at the undergraduate level: The number of undergraduate international students in the United States decreased by 5 percent, while the number of graduate international students actually increased by 2.5 percent over the previous year. The same report also finds that in the first academic year following September 11, 2001, the number of U.S. students studying abroad increased by 8.5 percent, to total nearly 175,000. The majority of U.S. students studying abroad went to Europe (62.9 percent), but significant percentages studied in Latin America (15.3 percent), Oceania (7.3 percent), and Asia (5.6 percent).

Other findings from Open Doors 2004:

* More than half of international students, 56.9 percent, were from Asia. Four of the top five countries of origin for international students in the United States are in Asia: India, China, Korea, and Japan. Nearly 80,000 students attending U.S. colleges and universities are from India.

* Nearly half of all international students majored in one of three fields: business and management (19.1 percent), engineering (16.6 percent), or mathematics and computer science (11.8 percent).

* The top destinations for U.S. students studying abroad were the United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, and France. Forty-seven percent of U.S. students studying abroad went to these four western European countries.