Surprise about the statistics of international students in the US

 Emily and I went to the Boston University campus visiting yesterday. When we walked back to get the car, we met a big group of Chinese students in BU central campus. In the meantime, we also had some discussions regarding visiting a college or university in a big city, such as New York University. Then, my curiosity made me dive into what international students in the US look like. 

Source: Opendoors Fast Fact 2023

There are some major takeaways:

1. In 2022/2023 academic year, among the top 10 leading institutions hosting international students in the US, BU and Northeastern University are the top 7 and top 2. The NYU is the number one. Further reading: Open doors international students data

2. China is still the leading country sending students to the US. In the 2022/2023 academic year, 27.4% of international students in the US were from China. 

3. Based on my estimations, China was the origin place of 35% to 50% of all international students in the top 10 leading institutions hosting international students in the US. In NYU, 51% of the international students for 2022/2203 academic year are from China. 

I was surprised by the facts after I dug and searched all the data. I am happy to know that the US Department of State has shared all the transparent statistics regarding international students in the US. In the meantime, it is not difficult to find the granularities in ISSO (International Students and Scholarships Office) from all universities. Sometimes, these departments had similar names, such as International Student and Scholar Services (ISSS), International Students and Program Office (ISPO), or International Student and Scholar Center (ISSC). 

What I did this weekend helped us contextualize the characterization of different colleges. I believe this is very informative for Emily in shaping her college candidate list.