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November 18, 2009
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| WASHINGTON - South Korea remains the third biggest source of foreign students at U.S. higher educational institutions after India and China, a report said yesterday. The number of South Korean student enrollments increased 9 percent to 75,065 in the 2008-2009 academic year, the Institute of International Education said in the report, “Open Doors 2009.” India also recorded a 9 percent surge to 103,260 to remain the leading place of origin for the eighth consecutive year, the report said. “Students from China, once again the second leading sender, increased 21 percent for a total of 98,510.” Canada, the only non-Asian country in the top five, rose to fourth place with an increase of 2 percent to 29,697, surpassing Japan, now in fifth place after students declined for the fourth consecutive year, down 14 percent to 29,264. Taiwan and Mexico followed with 28,065 and 14,850, respectively. The total number of international students at colleges and universities in the U.S. increased by 8 percent to an all-time high of 671,616 in the 2008-2009 academic year, the largest increase since the 1980-1981 academic year. Of the total, universities in California hosted the largest number of foreign students with 93,124, up 10 percent, followed by New York with 74,934, up 7 percent, and Texas with 58,188, up 12 percent. The New York City metropolitan area continues to be the leading city for international students with 59,322, and the Los Angeles metropolitan area came in second with 42,897. The University of Southern California, meanwhile, hosted the largest number of international students with 7,482, followed by New York University with 6,761, Columbia University with 6,685, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with 6,570 and Purdue University with 6,136. Business and management remains the most popular field of study for international students in the U.S., comprising 21 percent of the total. Engineering is second with 18 percent. Other popular areas of study are math and computer science and intensive English language. International students contributed $17.8 billion to the U.S. economy in the 2008-2009 academic year through their tuition and living expenditures, making tertiary education one of the top service-sector exports for the U.S., according to officials. Yonhap |
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