The number of international students enrolled in U.S. universities hit a record high last year, with India overtaking China as the top destination and California retaining its top spot, according to a new report.
More than 1.1 million international students (more than half of them Chinese or Indian) will be in the United States for undergraduate, graduate, or post-graduate vocational training programs from 2023 to 2024, according to data from the Institute of International Education. did. Increasing year by year.
According to the report, California has the highest percentage of international students attending universities, with the University of California, UC Berkeley, UC San Diego, and UC Los Angeles receiving the most attention, and the number of Chinese students attending. significantly outnumbered Indian students.
But under the second Trump administration, education and labor experts say such record numbers of visas for foreign students, including Chinese researchers, became a mainstay on several University of California campuses. doubts about the future status and availability of
While foreign enrollment at U.S. universities typically increases each year, it fell by 15% during President-elect Donald Trump’s first term. Much of that was due to a sharp drop as borders closed and classes moved online during the coronavirus lockdown.
But this trend started before the pandemic. President Trump began his presidency by enacting a ban on citizens of several Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States, but later launched a trade war with China that has repercussions in California. This has spilled over into universities, with reports of visa delays for Chinese scholars and federal government surveillance of their research. New restrictions on cooperation with China and Chinese companies.
Experts said it was difficult to predict what international students might face under President Trump’s second term. President Trump said he would reimpose a ban on travel and refugee admissions to “Gaza, Syria, Somalia, Yemen, Libya, or any other place that threatens the security of our country.” He said he continues to view China as an economic and security rival and vowed to impose steep tariffs on imports.
At the same time, his campaign included a promise to “automatically” grant green cards to foreign nationals who graduate from American universities.
“Rhetoric and campaigns are important because they inform future policy,” said Gaurav Khanna, an economist at the University of California, San Diego, who studies international students and workers in the labor market. There is,” he said.
“Under the Trump administration, the influx of Chinese students may remain low and Indian “For people, it depends on what happens with H1B policy.”
Experts said the president-elect’s pledge to deport illegal immigrants and general language that criminalizes immigrants could also affect alien registration.
John Aubrey Douglas said, “The United States is not the open society it once was internationally recognized, and we generally treat international students, including in areas of the world where we are strategically located, such as Africa. “There is a sense around the world that we are no longer friendly.” Center for Higher Education Research, University of California, Berkeley.
But Alan E. Goodman, chief executive officer of the Institute of International Education, said he does not expect the number of international students to decline significantly under the Trump administration.
“What we know from past data is that international enrollment tends to increase over time, except in extraordinary circumstances,” Goodman said at a press conference. He pointed to the declines after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and during the 2020 coronavirus lockdown as exceptions.
Chinese students in particular “have always been welcomed here through hot weather, cold weather, good times and bad relationships,” Goodman said.
According to the institute’s report, the growth in the number of Indian students has surpassed that of Chinese students for the first time since 2009, making them the top group, partly due to “optional practical training” in the United States. This is due to a 41% increase in student participation. This program temporarily extends your student visa and allows for work training during or after your studies.
More than 97,000 Indians are in the US for such training, representing 29% of all Indians on student visas. Most of the 331,602 Indian students in the United States (59%) were enrolled in graduate programs. Of the 277,398 Chinese students in the United States, only a small portion (44%) were at the graduate level. In total, about 12,000 fewer Chinese students attended U.S. schools last year.
“This difference can be explained by a variety of factors, in particular demographic changes in both countries,” said Mirka Martel, head of research, evaluation and learning at the Institute of International Education.
“With a significant number of U.S.-trained professors in China, Chinese graduate students can benefit from U.S. academic teaching and research networks while remaining at home,” she said. Martel also pointed to the growing number of college-age Indians as part of the reason for this group’s growth in the United States.
California’s national registration patterns were slightly different.
In California, 36% of the 140,858 international students were Chinese and 20% were Indian. One reason for the prevalence of Chinese in the state is the University of California system, which receives billions of dollars in federal funding and hosts a significant number of Chinese scholars and students.
USC had the highest number of international students at 17,469. The University of California, Berkeley followed with 12,441, followed by the University of California, San Diego with 10,467 and UCLA with 10,446.
Overall, STEM fields (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) were by far the most popular.
Some 6,000 higher education institutions surveyed by the group also reported a significant increase in students from parts of Africa. Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, Ethiopia, and South Africa are among the top or fastest-growing countries sending students to the United States from the African continent.
