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Record Number of Foreign Students Studied in US in 2015-1611-15-16 | Education

Record Number of Foreign Students Studied in US in 2015-16

Number Breaks 1 Million for First Time

The number of foreign students attending college in the United States increased 7.1 percent in the 2015-16 school year to reach a record-breaking 1 million.

Data released this week by the Institute of International Education's Open Doors report indicates that the number of international students studying in U.S. universities increased in the 2015-16 school year by 7.1 percent to break 1 million for the first time.

Of these 1 million-plus students, 31.5 percent (328,547) are from China. India has the next-highest number, with 15.9 percent or 165,918. Saudi Arabia, South Korea and Canada have 5.9 percent, 5.8 percent and 2.6 percent respectively; 38.3 percent are from countries not mentioned.

International students represent 5 percent of the overall university student population.

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, overall undergraduate enrollment has increased by 31 percent between 2000 and 2014. While this is not necessarily a record high, it reflects an overall steady increase with only a slight dip in recent years.

What impact does this have on students studying landscape architecture and the receipt of scholarships? Overall, not much. Based on profiles of scholarship recipients posted on the Landscape Architecture Foundation's website, only eight were born and/or raised outside of the U.S. or Puerto Rico. This includes students from Iran, the Bahamas, China, Mexico, Colombia and Nicaragua. Often these students received the EDSA Minority Scholarship, and were already studying in the United States before receiving the scholarship.

For more information on the Open Doors report and to read a full summary, visit iie.org.