This report looks at evidence that the U.S.’s historic dominance in the international student sector has declined in the past decade, due to rising costs, expanded opportunities elsewhere, and visa complications. With Trump administration policies threatening to further erode enrollment rates, MPI Senior Policy Analyst Jeanne Batalova offers a snapshot of information on international students enrolled in U.S. colleges and universities in 2023-24, including graduates on a student visa for Optional Practical Training (OPT). These students have increased as a share of all enrollments from 1% in 1949-50 to almost 6% in 2023-24. Close to 1.6 million students with F-1 and M-1 visas were enrolled in calendar year 2024, 56% in STEM fields, with India for the first time in 15 years passing China as the top sending country. While the number of new international student arrivals rebounded after a pandemic-driven decline, a flat number for the last two years has raised concerns on U.S. campuses and in local economies. International students, Batalova notes, contributed nearly $44 billion to the U.S. economy in the 2023-24 academic year and supported more than 378,000 jobs. The piece also provides comparative data on the geographic distribution of international students; major host institutions; countries of origin; fields of study; sources of funding and economic impact; transitions to the U.S. labor market; and other top global destinations for international students. (Jeffrey Gross, Ph.D.)
International Students in the United States,
Migration Policy Institute July 24, 2025, 8 pp.
Author: Jeanne Batalova