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Digest of Education Statistics
2010 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest


Table 233. Number of U.S. students studying abroad and percentage distribution, by sex, race/ethnicity, academic level, host region, and duration of stay: 1996–97 through 2007–08
Selected characteristic 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 Change 1997–98 to 2007–08
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
  Number   Percent change
Total 99,448 113,959 129,770 143,590 154,168 160,920 174,629 191,231 205,983 223,534 241,791 262,416 130.3
  Percentage distribution   Change in percentage points
Sex 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Male 35.1 35.2 34.8 35.4 35.0 35.1 35.3 34.4 34.5 34.5 34.9 34.9 -0.3
Female 64.9 64.8 65.2 64.6 65.0 64.9 64.7 65.6 65.5 65.5 65.1 65.1 0.3
                           
Race/ethnicity 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
White 83.9 84.5 85.0 83.7 84.3 82.9 83.2 83.7 83.0 83.0 81.9 81.8 -2.7
Black 3.5 3.8 3.3 3.5 3.5 3.5 3.4 3.4 3.5 3.5 3.8 4.0 0.2
Hispanic 5.1 5.5 5.2 5.0 5.4 5.4 5.1 5.0 5.6 5.4 6.0 5.9 0.4
Asian/Pacific Islander 5.0 4.8 4.4 4.8 5.4 5.8 6.0 6.1 6.3 6.3 6.7 6.6 1.8
American Indian/
    Alaska Native
0.3 0.6 0.9 0.5 0.5 0.4 0.5 0.5 0.4 0.6 0.5 0.5 -0.1
Two or more races 2.1 0.8 1.2 0.9 0.9 2.0 1.8 1.3 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.2 0.4
Visa students1 1.6
                           
Academic level 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Freshman 2.4 2.7 2.5 3.2 3.1 3.2 2.9 3.0 3.1 3.7 3.3 3.5 0.8
Sophomore 12.8 13.4 13.2 13.6 14.0 13.6 11.8 12.0 12.2 12.8 12.9 13.1 -0.3
Junior 41.3 42.2 40.3 39.8 38.9 40.7 38.0 34.7 35.8 34.2 36.6 35.9 -6.3
Senior 18.3 17.7 19.0 17.7 20.0 20.4 20.2 19.3 19.6 19.8 21.3 21.3 3.6
Associate's students 1.9 2.3 2.5 0.9 0.9 1.5 2.1 1.6 2.7 2.7 2.7 2.2 -0.1
Bachelor's unspecified 14.7 13.2 13.3 15.6 13.5 11.0 15.3 16.3 15.2 14.9 12.5 13.4 0.2
Master's level or higher 7.8 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.3 8.7 9.1 8.6 8.9 10.0 10.5 10.5 2.4
Other academic level 0.8 0.5 1.1 1.0 1.1 0.8 0.7 4.2 2.5 1.9 # 0.1 -0.4
                           
Host region 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Africa 2.6 2.7 2.8 2.8 2.9 2.9 2.8 3.0 3.5 3.8 4.2 4.5 1.8
Asia2 6.1 6.0 6.0 6.2 6.0 6.8 5.6 6.9 8.0 9.3 10.3 11.1 5.1
Europe3  64.6 63.8 62.8 62.5 63.3 62.7 63.1 61.0 60.3 58.3 57.4 56.3 -7.5
Latin America4  15.3 15.6 15.0 14.0 14.5 14.5 15.3 15.2 14.4 15.2 15.0 15.3 -0.3
Middle East3  1.8 1.8 2.7 2.8 0.9 0.7 0.2 0.4 1.0 1.2 1.1 1.3 -0.5
North America4,5  0.7 0.9 0.7 0.9 0.7 0.8 0.7 0.6 0.5 0.5 0.6 0.4 -0.5
Oceania 4.4 4.4 4.9 5.0 6.0 6.8 7.3 7.4 6.7 6.3 5.7 5.3 0.9
Multiple destinations 4.6 4.8 5.2 5.8 5.6 4.9 5.1 5.5 5.6 5.5 5.6 5.7 0.9
                           
Duration of stay 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Summer term 32.8 33.8 34.6 34.2 33.7 34.4 32.7 37.0 37.2 37.2 38.7 38.1 4.3
One semester 40.2 38.4 39.8 38.1 38.5 39.0 40.3 38.1 37.5 36.9 36.3 35.5 -2.9
8 weeks or less during
    academic year
3.3 4.2 4.8 7.3 7.4 7.3 9.4 8.9 8.0 9.5 9.8 11.0 6.8
January term 6.8 6.7 6.5 6.0 7.0 6.0 5.6 5.7 6.0 5.4 6.8 7.2 0.5
Academic year 10.7 9.5 8.6 8.2 7.3 7.8 6.7 6.0 6.0 5.3 4.3 4.1 -5.4
One quarter 4.0 4.8 4.1 4.7 4.1 3.9 3.8 3.3 3.3 3.3 3.4 3.4 -1.4
Two quarters 0.9 1.1 0.6 0.7 0.6 0.5 0.4 0.5 1.3 0.9 0.5 0.6 -0.5
Calendar year 0.2 0.5 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.5 0.5 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.1 0.1 -0.4
Other 1.2 1.0 0.8 0.4 0.8 0.6 0.6 0.3 0.5 1.3 0.1 # -1.0
†Not applicable.
#Rounds to zero.                          
1 In 1999-2000 only, separate data were collected on foreign students who, while studying in the United States on visas, left the United States for a period of time to study abroad elsewhere.
2 Asia excludes the Middle Eastern countries (Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, the Palestinian Authority, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen).
3 Cyprus and Turkey were classified as being in the Middle East prior to 2004-05, but in Europe for 2004-05 and later years. Data for years prior to 2004-05 have been revised for comparability.
4 Mexico and Central America are included in Latin America, not in North America.
5 Includes Antarctica from 2002-03 onward.
NOTE: Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding.
SOURCE: Institute of International Education, Open Doors: Report on International Educational Exchange, 2009. (This table was prepared May 2010.)

2010 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest