14% increase in international students since January 2014

Every year, thousands of foreign students and exchange visitors come to United States to pursue academic studies or other knowledge exchange programs under the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP). The Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) is a Web-based system that stores and manages information about international students, exchange visitors and their dependents during their stay in the United States.

14.18% Increase in Number of Students

According to the recent data of SEVIS, approximately 1.13 million international students were enrolled at nearly 8,979 U.S. schools as of February 6, 2015.  Most of these students are here on the F-1 student visa or the M vocational visa. This represents a 14.18% increase from January 2014.  The number of schools, however, has increased only one percent.

76% Students are from Asia (China, India, South Korea)

Asia has sent the most students to the U.S., representing 76% of all foreign students.  The top 10 countries of origins are: China, India, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Canada, Japan, Vietnam, Taiwan, Mexico and Brazil.

Most Popular Schools - University of So. CA, Purdue, Columbia, Illinois, NYU 

According to the data released, only 30 SEVP-certified schools had more than 5,000 international students enrolled in February. However, each of the following schools has more than 10,000 international schools:  The University of Southern California, Purdue University, Columbia University, the University of Illinois and New York University.

37% of International Students in STEM Programs

Approximately 37% of international students (about 400,000) studying in the United States were enrolled in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) programs in February. 86% of them were from Asia. Over the past five years, the number of female international students pursuing STEM fields had increased more than 68 percent, from 76,638 in February 2010 to 128,807 in February 2015.  The number of female international students pursuing technical master’s degrees had increased 114 percent during the same period of time. 

Most Popular States: New York, California and Florida

73% of students were enrolled in traditional academic programs pursuing bachelor’s, master’s or doctoral degrees. The data also shows that California, New York and Florida had the most SEVP-certified schools.  But 76 percent of SEVP-certified schools had between zero and 50 international students.