International Students: Who Is Attending American Universities

A record number of international students - 690,923 - are now studying at colleges and universities in the United States.

The influx of international students is hardly new. Since 2006, every college admission cycle has attracted more foreign students who are eager to study in the United States.

Chinese students are the biggest source of international students by far, according to the annual Open Doors report conducted by the Institute of International Education. For the 2009-2010 school year, Chinese student enrollment in U.S. colleges jumped an astonishing 30%. As you can see from the list below, no other country comes close to exporting as many young people to America for college.

International Students: Top 20 Countries of Origin

1. China 690,923
2. India 127,628
3. South Korea 72,153
4. Canada 28,145
5. Taiwan 26,685
6. Japan 24,842
7. Saudi Arabia 15,810
8. Mexico 13,450
9. Vietnam 13,112
10. Turkey 12,397
11. Nepal 11,233
12. Germany 9,548
13. United Kingdom 8,861
14. Brazil 8,786
15. Thailand 8,531
16. Hong Kong 8,034
17. France 7,716
18. Indonesia 6,943
19. Colombia 6,920
20. Nigeria 6,568

Smaller liberal arts colleges, however, are making more of a push to attract international students to help boost their enrollments at a time when some American families have concluded that private colleges cost too much.

Most Popular American Universities for International Students

1. University of Southern California 7, 987
2. University of Illinois 7,287
3. New York University 7,276
4. Purdue University 6,903
5. Columbia University 6,833
6. University of Michigan 6,095
7. UCLA 5,685
8. Michigan State University 5,358
9. University of Texas 5,265
10. Boston University 5,172
11. University of Florida 4,920
12. SUNY University at Buffalo 4,911
13. Harvard University 4,867
14. Indiana University 4,819
15. Ohio State University 4,796
16. University of Minnesota 4,665
17. Texas A&M University 4,611
18. Penn State University 4,561
19. University of Pennsylvania 4,522
20. Arizona State University 4,480

Lynn O'Shaughnessy is the author of The College Solution and she also writes for TheCollegeSolutionBlog.
International students image by United Nations Information Service - Geneva. CC 2.0.

Lynn O'Shaughnessy

View all articles by Lynn O'Shaughnessy on CBS MoneyWatch»
Lynn O'Shaughnessy is a best-selling author, consultant and speaker on issues that parents with college-bound teenagers face. She explains how families can make college more affordable through her website TheCollegeSolution.com; her financial workbook, Shrinking the Cost of College; and the new second edition of her Amazon best-selling book, The College Solution: A Guide for Everyone Looking for the Right School at the Right Price.

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