India sends the most students to the US: report

Washington: For the sixth year in a row India sent the most
number of students to the US in 2006-07 with a 10 per cent increase
taking the numbers to 83,833, according to a new report on
international educational exchange.
China remained in second place, with numbers up eight per cent
to 67,723 and South Korea, in third place, increased six percent to
62,392, said the annual Open Doors report released Monday by the
Institute of International Education.
India also dominated with one in seven (14.4 per cent) of the
total of 582,984 international students who together contributed about
$14.5 billion to the US economy through their expenditure on tuition
and living expenses, said the report.

The US Department of Commerce considers US higher education as
the country’s fifth largest service sector export as these students
bring money into the national economy and provide revenue to their host
states for living expenses, health insurance, support for accompanying
family members, and other miscellaneous items.

Published with support from the US Department of State’s Bureau
of Educational and Cultural Affairs, the Open Doors 2007 report noted
that 61.5 per cent of all international students receive the majority
of their funds from personal and family sources.
When other sources of foreign funding are included, such as
assistance from their home country governments or universities, a total
of two thirds (66 per cent) of all international students’ primary
funding comes from sources outside of the US.
Not only did India send the most students to the US, it also
attracted more US students with their numbers going up to 2,115, up 20
per cent. Israel followed with 1,981, up 22.5 per cent, and Peru was
third with 1,135, up 31 per cent.
However, Britain was once again the leading destination for
study abroad by American students, with a total of 32,109 followed by
Italy (26,078) and Spain (21,881) in the third place. The total went up
by 8.5 percent to 223,534.
The majority of students from India were enrolled for study at
the graduate level (71.1 percent) in academic year 2006-07. While 15
per cent joined at the undergraduate level, 12.8 per cent joined at
other levels and 1.2 per cent came for optional practical training.
An accompanying fall (autumn) 2007 survey also indicated that
new enrolments from most countries seem to be increasing with 38 per
cent institutions reporting increases versus 16 per cent reporting
declines from India.
In the case of China, 53 per cent reported increases versus 10
per cent reporting declines. The numbers for Korea were 35 per cent
increases versus 17 per cent declines.
Sixty per cent (417) of all responding institutions have taken
special steps to ensure that the number of international students on
their campuses does not decline. International student recruitment
trips thus seem to have concentrated mainly on Asia, with China, Korea,
and India as most popular recruitment destinations.
Asia remained the largest sending region, accounting for 59 per
cent of total US international enrolments, and increasing by 5 per cent
this year. The number of students from South and Central Asia increased
by 10 per cent, driven by the large increases from India, while
enrolments from Pakistan and Bangladesh declined.
The number of students from 12 of the top 20 places of origin
increased in 2006-07. Of the eight countries in the top 20 that
experienced declines, only three decreased by more than three per cent.
Among the leading fields of study for international students in
the US, business remains the leading field with 18 per cent of the
total, closely followed by engineering with 15 per cent.
The field that experienced the largest increase in enrolments was intensive English, up 30 per cent from the previous year.
Increases in international student enrolments were reported in
nearly every state with colleges and universities in California
attracting the largest number of foreign students with 77,987, up 3.5
per cent, followed by New York with 65,884, up 2.5 per cent, and Texas
with 49,081, up five per cent.
The New York City metropolitan area was the leading destination
for international students, with 51,973 enrolled in area schools. The
Los Angeles metropolitan area followed with 35,870 international
students.
For the sixth consecutive year, the University of Southern
California enrolled the largest number of international students, with
a record 7,115. Columbia University remains in second place with 5,937
international students and New York University moved up to third place
this year with 5,827 international students.

Source : Sify News