The U.S. enrolled the highest number of international students in its history during the 2012-2013 school year, with China as the top source. For the first time, the number of international undergrads exceeds the number of international grad students on US campuses.
819,644 undergraduate and graduate students from other countries were enrolled in 2012-2013, 40% more than 10 years ago, according to the Institute of International Education’s (IIE) annual survey “2013 Open Doors Report on International Education Exchange.”
Much of the increase in international students enrolling in U.S. colleges and universities comes from China. The number of Chinese students enrolled increased to 26 percent of all international students at the undergraduate level and 21% overall (undergraduate and graduate combined).
Many Chinese students come to study in the U.S. because they are eager to develop their own views and experience a variety of academic opportunities, according to a US News article, “U.S. Sees Record Numbers of International College Students.” Yige Li, a freshman at Westminster College and originally from Beijing, China, says, “Many students in China have to decide their major before entering into college. They don’t have any more chances to discover what their views are and what kinds of opportunities they have.” She values that the U.S. universities provide freedom for students to choose their own paths.
The Open Doors Report identifies California and New York as the top states for international student enrollment, followed by Texas, Massachusetts, and Illinois. The University of Southern California has led the enrollment numbers for the past 12 years, with the University of Illinois – Urbana-Champaign, Purdue University, New York University, Columbia University and UCLA not far behind. See chart below.
|
Institution |
City, State |
International Student Total |
| University of Southern California | Los Angeles, CA |
9,840 |
| University of Illinois – Urbana-Champaign | Champaign, IL |
9,804 |
| Purdue University | West Lafayette, IN |
9,509 |
| New York University | New York, NY |
9,362 |
| Columbia University | New York, NY |
8,797 |
| University of California – Los Angeles | Los Angeles, CA |
8,424 |
| Northeastern University | Boston, MA |
7,705 |
| University of Michigan | Ann Arbor, MI |
6,827 |
| Michigan State University | East Lansing, MI |
6,759 |
| Penn State University – University Park | University Park, PA |
6,693 |
| Arizona State University | Tempe, AZ |
6,645 |
| Boston University | Boston, MA |
6,615 |
| Indiana University – Bloomington | Bloomington, IN |
6,547 |
| University of Washington | Seattle, WA |
6,491 |
| Ohio State University – Main Campus | Columbua, OH |
6,478 |
| University of Minnesota – Twin Cities | Minneapolis, MN |
6,178 |
| University of Florida | Gainesville, FL |
5,961 |
| SUNY University at Buffalo | Buffalo, NY |
5,804 |
| University of Pennsylvania | Philadelphia, PA |
5,751 |
| University of California – Berkeley | Berkeley, CA |
5,632 |
| University of Texas – Austin | Austin, TX |
5,481 |
| University of Wisconsin – Madison | Madison, WI |
5,291 |
| University of Texas – Dallas | Richardson, TX |
5,193 |
| Texas A&M University | College Station, TX |
5,149 |
| Harvard University | Cambridge, MA |
5,131 |
While international students can benefit greatly from studying in the U.S., their presence can also add to the experience of the American students on campus. The director of the Office of International Advancement at University of Illinois – Urbana-Champaign’s says, “The international students are incredibly talented. They bring a different perspective in the classroom and a great amount of cultural diversity to campus.”
During the NJACAC Fall 2013 Conference, Janet Rapelye, Dean of Admission at Princeton University presented a study of international demographic trends in US college attendance. She reinforced that the experience of students from all over the world studying together and living together is vital, and concluded that “our collective future depends on our ability to educate students to find commonality not differences.”