Most of these students come from Asian countries, with the largest number with some distance from China (369,548) and India (202,014). In contrast, only 26,122 came from Canada (in fifth place) and 15,229 from Mexico (in tenth place).
While 2018-2019 set new record highs for overseas students in the US, IIE data shows a small decrease in intake over the years covering 2016-2019, which coincided with Donald Trump’s election and presidency.
New York City is home to most international students, thanks to New York University and Columbia University to host 19,605 and 15,897 students respectively.
Relatively few foreign students come from European countries, while European countries are the most popular destinations for American students studying abroad. Of 341,751 American students abroad, 12% are in the United Kingdom, 11% in Italy, 10% in Spain and 5% in France. In contrast, the 51 countries counted by IIE as European countries only accounted for 8% of international students currently in the US.
