Source: China Daily
China continues to be the top source driving the growing and record number of international students in US universities and colleges.
During the 2012/13 academic year, Chinese student enrollments increased by a hefty 21.4 percent to 235,597, compared with the 194,029 in the previous academic year, according to the 2013 Open Doors Report on International Educational Exchange by the Institute of International Education (IIE).
Overall, the number of international students enrolled in US establishments of higher education in the 2012/13 academic year rose 7.2 percent to 819,644 students, or about 55,000 more than the previous school year.
Of all international students in the US, 28.7 percent were from China. The rise in the number of undergraduate students from China was especially dramatic, jumping 26 percent in the 2012/13 academic year.
A breakdown shows that 39.8 percent of Chinese students in the US were undergraduates while 43.9 percent were graduates. The remainder included 10.2 percent in Optional Practical Training (OPT) and 6.1 percent in other programs. OPT is a US policy for international students on F-1 visas to work in the US for one year after graduation to get practical training to complement their field of study.
Several other countries, such as Brazil and Saudi Arabia, have also seen large increases.
The report shows that students from the top three countries of origin – China, India and the Republic of Korea – now account for 49 percent of the total number of international students in the US. But China was the only of the top three with its numbers increasing, as enrollments from India and the ROK both declined.
Aside from these top three, no other country accounted for more than 5 percent of the total, according to the report.