Mark A Ivener, A Law Corporation

Foreign student enrollment increases; mostly Chinese


Foreign student enrollment increases; mostly Chinese. The Institute of International Education, with support from the Department of State, released Open Doors Report on International Educational Exchange 2010, which notes that foreign student enrollments in the U.S. increased by 3 percent, to 690,923 students, during the 2009-2010 academic year. This year’s growth was primarily driven by a 30% increase in Chinese student enrollment in the United States to a total of nearly 128,000 students, or more than 18% of the total international student population, making China the leading sending country, the report said. Students from India increased by 2% to a total of nearly 105,000. Indian students represent 15% of all international students in U.S. higher education. The most notable decline was in Japanese students.

California was the top host state, and New York City was the top host city. Business and management, and engineering, remained the top fields of study.

NAFSA: Association of International Educators and several other entities conducted a “snapshot” online survey on related issues in fall 2010. The survey asked educators to indicate whether they had seen a change in new enrollments from selected major sending countries. The results indicate that new enrollments from China are increasing significantly, with 58% of institutions reporting increases and only 14% reporting declines (the rest reported level enrollments).

See also: A press release that includes a discussion of the results, and related links.

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Mark A. Ivener, A Law Corporation, a nationally recognized law firm, has successfully assisted hundreds of clients in immigration matters.