Appendix A.5. Institute of International Education

Open Doors

Each year, the Institute of International Education (IIE) conducts a survey of the number of foreign students studying in American colleges and universities and U.S. students studying abroad. The results of these surveys are reported in the publication Open Doors. All of the regionally accredited institutions in NCES's Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) are surveyed by IIE. The foreign student enrollment data presented in the Digest of Education Statistics are drawn from IIE surveys that ask U.S. institutions for information on enrollment of foreign students, as well as student characteristics such as country of origin. For the 2019–20 survey, 57 percent of the 2,917 institutions surveyed reported data. For 2020–21, 54.4 percent of the 2,885 institutions surveyed reported data.

Surveys on the flows of U.S. college students studying abroad have been conducted since 1985–86. Surveys are sent to U.S. institutions asking them to provide information on the number and characteristics of the students to whom they awarded credit for study abroad during the previous academic year. For the 2018–19 academic year, data were obtained from 1,186, or 65 percent, of the 1,829 institutions surveyed; for the 2019–20 academic year, data were obtained from 1,171, or 55 percent, of the 2,117 institutions surveyed.

Additional information may be obtained from the publication Open Doors or by contacting

Institute of International Education
809 United Nations Plaza
New York, NY 10017
(212) 883-8200
opendoors@iie.org
https://www.iie.org/en/Research-and-Insights/Open-Doors