Number of international students in US drops 2.4%

Indians prefer US for higher education

The annual report on international academic mobility, published by the Institute of International Education (IIE), has revealed that the number of international students enrolled in higher education institutions in the US declined by 2.4 per cent in 2003-04. The total number of foreign students registered in the US universities stood at 5,72,509.

IIE is a non-profit educational and cultural exchange organisation in the US.

According to the report, named 'Open Doors 2004', - published with support from the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs - India sends the largest number of students to the US. In fact the number has increased by 7 per cent over the previous year.

The drop in foreign students in the US follows five years of steady growth. This is the first time since 1971-72, that the US has witnessed a decline in foreign enrollments. In 1971-72, enrollments had dropped to 1,40,126.

"Real and perceived difficulties in obtaining student visas, rising tuition costs, vigorous recruitment activities by other English speaking nations and perceptions abroad that international students may no longer be welcome in the US are the major reasons for declining numbers on university registers," the report says.

Number of student enrollment from the Middle East fell by nine per cent, compared with the previous year. The enrollment from Europe was down five per cent.

Student enrollments from the Middle East continued to decrease dramatically with 30 per cent decline from UAE to 1,248 students, 17 per cent decline from Kuwait to 1,846 students, 16 per cent decline from Saudi Arabia to 3,521 students and 15 per cent decline each from Cyprus and Jordan.

The students enrollment from India stood up at 79,736 students. The enrollment from China grew by five per cent to 61,765, Korea by two per cent to 52,484. However, the rate of increase in student enrollments from India has slowed from the previous year.

In year 2003-04, 40,835 students from Japan, 27,017 students from Canada, 26,178 students from Taiwan reached the US for higher studies. The enrollments from Asian countries such as Thailand, Indonesia, Hong Kong and Pakistan dropped by about 10 per cent each.

Despite the over all decline, Asia remains the largest sending region by a wide margin of almost 57 per cent of international students studying in US still come from Asia.

University of Southern California (USC) remained the most attractive education destination for foreign student with 6,647 international students registering at the University in 2003-04. USC topped the list in three year in a raw. USC is followed by Columbia University, Purdue University, New York University and University of Texas at Austin.

The US economy gained over $1,300 crore from international students by way of spend on their tuition, living expenses and related costs.

IIE has been conducting the annual statistical survey of international students in US since 1970s with support from concerned government agencies. The 2003-04 census is based on a survey of over 2,700 accredited US institutions with response rate of about 88 per cent.