Map Reveals Nations Sending Highest Number of Students to US

The number of international students studying at U.S. universities and colleges reached a record high during the last school year.
A new report from the Institute of International Education showed that 1.1 million foreign students were enrolled in U.S. higher education institutions during the 2023-24 academic year, a 6.6 percent increase on the previous year’s figures.
More than half of those students came from China or India, with India overtaking China for the first time since 2009 as the country of origin for the largest group of students. California remained the top destination, hosting the largest number of international students in the country—though in the Golden State, Chinse students significantly outnumbered their Indian counterparts.
The state’s most prestigious institutions appeared to be the most tempting for foreign students, with the University of California, Los Angeles, UC Berkeley, UC San Diego, and the University of Southern California all proving popular.
The report, which surveyed about 6,000 higher education institutions, also recorded a spike in students from Africa. Last year, 56,780 students from African countries—with significant numbers from Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, Ethiopia and South Africa—headed to the U.S. to study, an increase of 13.1 percent.
From East Asia, 365,369 students arrived to study in the U.S., with most—277,398—coming from China. Students from Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan also made the trip. China’s figures represented a 4.2 percent decrease from the previous year’s figures.
The number of European students remained relatively stable, with 90,600 arriving, a rise of 0.8 percent.
South and Central Asia sent a total of 386,260 students to the U.S., with 331,602 students from India, a 23.3 percent rise on the year before. Bangladesh and Pakistan also sent thousands of students, while 702 students arrived from Afghanistan.
The rise in Indian students was fueled in part by a 41 percent increase of those participating in the “Optional Practical Training” extension, which can be applied to student visas, the Institute of International Education reported. The temporary extension allows individuals to embark on work training during or after their studies.
Education experts have said the number of foreign students in U.S. institutions may plunge during Donald Trump’s second administration.
During Trump’s first term in the White House, the number of foreign students dropped by 15 percent, the Los Angeles Times reported—although much of that was due to global COVID-19 lockdowns.
Still, Trump’s travel ban on those arriving from some Muslim countries, a trade war with China and increased scrutiny of Chinese scholars are believed to have also played a role.
During the 2024 presidential campaign, Trump vowed to enact mass deportations of illegal immigrants.
John Aubrey Douglass, of UC Berkeley’s Center for Studies in Higher Education, told the Times there is now a “perception throughout the world that the U.S. is not the open society once perceived internationally, and no longer friendly to foreign students generally.”
However, others believed Trump’s return to office would have little effect on foreign students heading to the U.S. to study.
Allan E. Goodman, the chief executive of the Institute of International Education, said he did not expect a significant decline under the Republican president. Previous data shows “that international enrollment has tended to increase” over time, he said in a briefing, adding that it dipped only during exceptional circumstances, such as the 9/11 terror attacks or the COVID-19 pandemic.