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Foreign Student Enrollments in U.S. Top 565,000 in 2004-2005: Report finds India, China top senders; U.S. students abroad in record numbers

By Anthony Kujawa Washington File Staff Writer

November 14, 2005

The number of foreign students enrolled in U.S. higher education institutions during the 2004-2005 academic year remained fairly steady at 565,039, down 1.3 percent from the previous year's totals, according to the Institute of International Education's (IIE) 2005 report on international academic mobility.

"The United States remains the best place in the world to pursue higher education and we continue to assure international students that they are welcome in our country," said Dina Habib Powell, the State Department’s assistant secretary for educational and cultural affairs on the November 14 release of Open Doors 2005.

The Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) funds the annual Open Doors study, which is based on a survey of more than 2,700 accredited U.S. educational institutions. IIE is a nonprofit educational and cultural exchange organization based in New York City. The findings were released in conjunction with the nationwide observance of International Education Week, which is sponsored jointly by the Department of State and the U.S. Department of Education.

Briefing on the report at the National Press Club, IIE President Allan E. Goodman said, “The big story of this year is that if you compare pre-9/11 with today, more international students, substantially more international students and scholars are in the United States.” U.S. education institutions enrolled 547,867 foreign students in 2000-2001 academic year, and a lower number of students in previous years, compared to 565,039 in 2004-2005.

“We do remain the number one destination for foreign students,” added Miller Crouch, ECA’s principle deputy assistant secretary. The 2005 report marks the sixth year in a row the United States hosted more than half a million foreign students, he said.

The 1.3 percent decline in the number of international students studying in the United States in 2004-2005 indicates a “leveling off” of enrollments, compared with the 2.4 percent decline reported in 2003-2004, according to IIE. Some campuses reported significant increases in enrollments while other campuses reported declines.

“Strong recruitment, combined with more efficient and transparent student visa processes, have begun to stem the tide of decreasing international student enrollment. We need to continue these concerted efforts to get the word out that our doors are open to international students, in order to attract the best and the brightest students from all over the world,” said Goodman.

In addition, 89,634 international scholars (teachers or researchers) were in the United States in 2004-2005, an increase of 8.1 percent from 2003-2004. There was also an 11.3 percent increase in foreign student enrollment at U.S. community colleges for 2004-2005, illustrating the diversity of educational opportunities in the United States and an evolving market, according to Crouch.

INDIA, CHINA, SOUTH KOREA, JAPAN, CANADA SEND MOST STUDENTS

The leading country of origin for international students in the United States for the fourth consecutive year was India (80,466, up 1 percent), followed by China (62,523, up 1 percent), South Korea (53,358, up 2 percent), Japan (42,215, up 3 percent) and Canada (28,140, up 4 percent).

At a time when some perceive the United States as closing its borders to international students, the report noted strong increases in the number of students from Turkey (12,474, up 9.4 percent), Canada (up 4 percent), Nigeria (6,335, up 3.2 percent) and Japan (up 3.4 percent) studying in the United States.

Of the top 20 sending countries, the sharpest decreases in the number of students were reported from Indonesia (7,760, down 13 percent), Kenya (6,728, down 9 percent), Pakistan (6,296, down 14 percent) and Malaysia (6,142, down 5 percent). The total number of students from the Middle East region (31,248, down 2 percent) declined, although not as sharp a decline as the 9 percent cited in the 2004 report.

According to IIE, the slight overall decline in international students enrolled in U.S. colleges and universities was due to several factors, including real and perceived difficulties in obtaining student visas (especially in scientific and technical fields), rising U.S. tuition costs, recruitment by other English-speaking nations and misperceptions abroad that it is difficult for international students to come to the United States.

VISA PROCESSING IMPROVED, OFFICIAL SAYS

Crouch discussed perceptions of difficulty in receiving visas, and said that 97 percent of visa applications are processed in one or two days. “The vast majority of foreign students who seek to come to the United States for an education do qualify to receive visas, approximately 75 percent,” he said.

U.S. officials have increased efforts to promote the United States as a study-abroad destination, to provide accurate information on the visa process and to dispel rumors that the United States has been closing its doors to students.

In addition, U.S. higher-education officials have said that processing times for what are called Visas Mantis reviews -- interagency reviews required for individuals with backgrounds in certain scientific and technical fields -- have discouraged some students from applying to U.S. schools and influenced some students' decisions to pursue education opportunities in other countries.

But Crouch said only 2 percent of student visa applications require the security reviews, and that average processing time for a security review now is less than two weeks. In October 2003, the average processing time for a Visas Mantis case was 75 days.

The United States has an "enduring commitment" to support international educational exchange and is working to encourage a resurgence of international students and to dispel perceptions that it does not welcome foreign students, officials say. (See related article.)

INCREASE IN FALL 2005 ENROLLMENTS REPORTED

A separate online survey in which IIE and several other higher-education associations polled colleges and universities about fall 2005 enrollments found that 40 percent of responding institutions reported an increase, 26 percent reported a decline and 34 percent reported no change in fall 2005 new enrollments of international students as compare to fall 2004 levels.

“It is encouraging to see the apparent growth this fall in new enrollments of international students on U.S. campuses, as shown in this early response,” said Goodman.

In a separate study, the Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) reported November 7 that first-time enrollment of foreign students at U.S. graduate institutions increased 1 percent from 2004 to 2005, following three years of declines. CGS cited improved admissions and streamlined visa processes as “producing results” to reverse the trend. (See related article.)

RECORD NUMBER OF U.S. STUDENTS STUDYING ABROAD

IIE also reported in Open Doors 2005 that a record number of U.S. students studied in other countries during the 2003-2004 academic year.

In 2003-2004, some 191,321 U.S. college students received credit for studying in other countries, a 9.6 percent increase from the 2002-2003 academic year, the report found. Top destinations for U.S. students were the United Kingdom (32,237, up 1.7 percent), Italy (21,922, up 15 percent), and Spain (20,080, up 6.4 percent). The study also found large increases in the number U.S. students studying in China (4,737) and India (1,757).

"I am pleased that American students are studying abroad, which signals their keen interest in learning more about the people and nations beyond our borders," said Assistant Secretary Powell, in a press release on the report.

The report found that U.S. students tended to study abroad in larger numbers but for shorter time periods, with a continued decline in popularity of traditional semester and yearlong programs. The majority, 56 percent of U.S. students that studied abroad, participated in summer, January term, and other programs of less than one semester, the report found.

For additional information on studying in the United States see the ECA’s EducationUSA Web site and the related article, “Global Network Providing Resources on Study in United States.”

For more information on visa procedures and traveling to the United States, see www.travel.state.gov and the State Department electronic journal See You in the U.S.A.

Information on the Open Doors 2005 is available on the IIE Web site.