In 2007-08, approximately 624,000 international students were enrolled in postsecondary institutions in the United States. These students accounted for 3 percent of the total enrollment in U.S. postsecondary institutions.

In the 1969-70 academic year, 135,000 students from other countries were enrolled in postsecondary institutions in the United States (see table A-39-1). International student enrollment increased each year through 2002-03 to 586,000 students, declined over the next few years to 565,000 in 2005-06, increased again to 583,000 in 2006-07 and to 624,000 n 2007-08. International students accounted for 3 percent of students at the postsecondary level in 2007-08; this percentage has remained between 3 and 4 percent since 1992-93. International student enrollment in U.S. institutions has varied by academic level over time, with a greater share of enrollment at the graduate level. For example, in 2007-08, international graduate students accounted for 10 percent of total graduate enrollment while international undergraduate students accounted for 2 percent of total undergraduate enrollment.

India, China, and South Korea were the top three countries of origin for international students studying in the U.S. in 2007-08. Of the 624,000 international students who were enrolled in postsecondary institutions in the U.S. in that year, 94,600 (or 15 percent) had come from India, 81,100 (or 13 percent) had come from China, and 69,100 (or 11 percent) had come from South Korea. Other leading countries of origin for international students included Japan, Canada, and Taiwan (5 percent each). Students from these six countries accounted for over half of international student enrollment in 2007-08.

Nearly 40 percent of all international students who were enrolled in U.S. postsecondary institutions in 2007-08 studied in either the field of business and management (20 percent) or in engineering (17 percent) (see table A-39-2). Other leading fields of study for international students included physical and life sciences (9 percent), social sciences (9 percent), and math and computer science (8 percent). There were also differences in enrollment in specific fields of study by academic level in 2007-08. For example, a greater percentage of undergraduate students were enrolled in business and management than graduate students (26 vs. 16 percent), while a lower percentage of undergraduate students were enrolled in engineering than graduate students (12 vs. 23 percent).

In addition, enrollment in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields was prevalent among international students in 2007-08, particularly among international graduate students. For the purposes of this indicator, STEM fields include the fields of engineering, physical and life sciences, math and computer science, and health professions. About 53 percent of international graduate students were studying in a STEM field, compared with 30 percent of international undergraduate students.

Technical Notes

The data collection process changed in 1974-75, thus refugees were counted from 1975-76 to 1990-91. While this indicator focuses on aggregated data for undergraduate and graduate education, Open Doors also features disaggregated information on academic programs at the associate's, bachelor's, master's, and doctoral levels, as well as information on international scholars and intensive English programs. Undergraduate estimates include associate's and bachelor's enrollments. Graduate estimates include master's, doctoral, professional training, and unspecified enrollments. Estimates from Open Doors may differ from those derived from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) because of differences in data collection and categorization procedures. For more information on the Open Doors International Student Census and IPEDS, see supplemental note 3.