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.)