More International Students Studying at US Colleges, According to Study

More international students are choosing to come to the U.S. to attend college, according to USA Today. 

More than 800,000 international students, nearly half from India, China and South Korea, were enrolled in a U.S. college or university last year, which is a 7.2 percent increase from the previous year. The number of U.S. students earning academic credit abroad is also increasing. 

The statistics derive from an annual report on international student enrollment, which was released Monday by the Institute of International Education in New York. The Institute of International Education publishes data in conjunction with the State Department's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.

The report states that 819,644 international students enrolled in U.S. institutions during the 2012-13 academic year added more than $24 billion to the economy. American students who choose to study abroad also increased 3.4 percent to an all-time high of 283,332 in 2011-12. However, fewer than 10 percent of all U.S. undergraduates study abroad, the report shows.  

"Both total enrollment and new enrollment had slowed after the economic slowdown in 2007/08, and both have now rebounded to previous high rates of growth," the report said, highlighting the impact of the recent economic recession. 

Overall, international students make up less than 4 percent of the 21 million students enrolled in U.S. colleges and universities, the Chicago Tribune reports. 

Close to 70 percent of international students are in only 200 of the nation's 4,000 colleges and universities. Fewer than 10 percent of all U.S. undergraduates study abroad, the report shows. 

Colleges seek international students to increase diversity on their campuses and increase revenue. Foreign students usually pay a higher non-resident tuition at public universities than U.S. students. Overseas, many middle and upper-income families think of a U.S. college degree as a way to achieve success. 

The report states that China sends the most students to the U.S., and that one of the largest increases of 30.5 percent came from Saudi Arabia. The number of students from Brazil also increased 20.4 percent because of a new government scholarship program for undergraduates. 

The universities with the highest number of international students are the University of Southern California, the University of Illinois-Urbana-Champaign, Purdue University and New York University. Each hosted more than 9,000 international students in the year studied. 

The United Kingdom hosts the largest number of U.S. students at 34,660, followed by Italy, Spain and France. Japan also saw an increase in U.S. students of 27.8 percent.