WASHINGTON, D.C.
The number of international students enrolled in U.S. higher education institutions during the 2005-06 academic year remained flat at 564,766 students, ending a two-year decline, according to “Open Doors 2006,” the annual report released today by the Institute of International Education.
The report comes as U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret and a delegation of U.S. college and university presidents travel to Japan, Korea and China this week to send the message international students are welcomed and valued.
America’s colleges have begun to see positive results from their proactive efforts to recruit international students, said Dr. Allan E. Goodman, president and CEO of IIE. However, “the U.S. has a huge untapped capacity to meet the growing worldwide demand for higher education,” he said.
According to the report, India continued to send the most students — 76,503 students for 2005-06 — although that figure represented a 5 percent drop from the previous year. Mainland China remained in second place, with its numbers steady at 62,582. There were significant increases in the number of students from the Republic of Korea (up 10 percent to 58, 847), Taiwan (up 8 percent to 27,876), Mexico (up 7 percent to 13,931), Nepal (up 25 percent to 6,061 students), and Vietnam (up 25 percent with 4,597 students).
The most popular fields of study for international students were business and management (18 percent of total), engineering (16.5 percent) and mathematics and computer sciences (9 percent).
“It is gratifying to see evidence that international students are returning to U.S. colleges and universities in larger numbers than in previous years,” said David Ward, president of American Council on Education. “This comes in no small measure because of outreach efforts undertaken by our institutions and has been enhanced by cooperation on the part of the Departments of State and Homeland Security in working with our campuses.”
