The Korea Times

http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/nation/200611/kt2006111417290211980.htm



59,000 Koreans Studying in US

By Kang Shin-who



November 14, 2006

Korean students are flocking to the United States with the country ranking third in the number of students it sends to American schools behind India and China. However, Korea does send proportionally more students than the other two countries, given its smaller population.

According to ``Open Doors 2006,’’ the annual report by the Institute of International Education (IIE), Korean students studying in U.S. higher education institutions increased 10.4 percent to 58,847

The total number of international students in U.S. colleges and universities was 564,766 in 2005-2006, virtually the same as a year earlier. This marks the seventh year in a row that America has hosted more than half a million foreign students, suggesting that international enrollments have stabilized and are poised to rebound.

India remains number one in enrolling its students in U.S. accounting for 13.5 percent of the total at 76,503, but it saw a 4.9 percent decrease from the previous academic year. China came next with 62,582, a 0.1 percent increase.

Accordingly, Asia was again the number one region in sending students to the U.S. with 58 percent of total international enrollments, according to the report.

Meanwhile, the University of Southern California hosted the largest number of international students for the fifth consecutive year with 6,881. California remains the leading host state for international students with 75,385, followed by New York with 64,283, and Texas with 46,869.

The most popular fields of study for international students in the U.S. were business management, taking up 18 percent of the total, engineering with 16 percent and physical and life sciences with 9 percent.

The reports also found that some 206,000 U.S. students went abroad to study, an increase of 8 percent over the previous year. Britain was the top destination for them, but China was remarkably gaining popularity with 6,389 students going there, a 34.9 percent increase and ranking the country eighth.

The IIE with the support from the U.S. Department of State has conducted the annual statistical survey of international students in the U.S. since 1949 to measure global academic mobility.

kswho@koreatimes.co.kr 11-14-2006 17:29