Int’l
Student Enrollments at U.S. Schools Bring $7 Billion; U.S. Study
Abroad Grows
The number of international students attending U.S. colleges and
universities increased by only 0.9% this year, continuing a seven-year
trend of minimal growth, according to a report released by the
Institute of International Education (IIE), the nation’s leading
non-profit international exchange and training organization. The
report also finds that the number of Americans studying overseas
increased nearly 6% over the previous year (in which an 11% increase
had been recorded), and continues a healthy decade-long growth
trend. Open Doors, IIE’s annual report on international educational
exchange puts the number of foreign students attending U.S. colleges
and universities during the 1996-97 academic year at 457,984 which
is up from last year’s 453,787. The number of Americans studying
overseas for credit in the academic year 1995-96 (the most recent
year for which these statistics are available) is 89,242, up from
84,403 in the preceding year. Highlights of the study, Open Doors
1996-97, are available on IIE’s
website.
“While
the number of international students attending U.S. institutions
of higher education increased only slightly over the previous
year, community colleges and intensive English programs have shown
that they can successfully attract more individuals from overseas,”
said Dr. John P. Loiello, Associate Director for Educational and
Cultural Affairs, United States Information Agency.
Open Doors reports that foreign students bring over 7 billion
dollars into the economy each year. According to the Department
of Commerce, making U.S. higher education the country’s fifth
largest service sector export. In addition, it is estimated that
over 100,000 full and part-time jobs in state and local economies
are created through money foreign students spend while studying
in the United States.
Of the 89,242 Americans receiving credit for study abroad, nearly
two thirds still head for the countries of Western Europe. The
majority (65%) are women students, and the largest proportion
major in humanities and social sciences.
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