AAC&U News | November 2004 | Facts & Figures

Surveys Show Declining Foreign Enrollment at U.S. Colleges and Universities

In the 2003-04 academic year, the number of foreign students enrolled at U.S. colleges and universities declined for the first time since 1971-72, according to Institute of International Educators (IIE). This finding, reported in IIE's recently released Open Doors 2004 survey, is the latest in a series of troubling developments involving international students in the U.S. A survey issued by NAFSA: Association of International Educators shed light on other trends: continuing international undergraduate enrollments and new graduate student enrollments appear to be especially affected by the decline, and although there are indications that visa delays are less of a problem this year than last, they continue to be identified as a major factor in the falling rates of foreign enrollment. Other significant factors include rising tuition costs in the U.S., increasing competition from institutions abroad, and the perception that the U.S. is no longer a welcoming environment for international students.

FINDINGS

Findings from the IIE Open Doors 2004 Survey

The number of international students enrolled in U.S. higher education institutions decreased by 2.4 percent in 2003-04--the first absolute decline in foreign enrollments since 1971-72.
Undergraduate enrollments of foreign students in the U.S. decreased by almost 5 percent.
The undergraduate declines were partially offset by an increase in the total number of graduate student enrollments, which increased by 2.5 percent in 2003-04.
The numbers of students from Europe, the Middle East, and Asia all declined, with Europe down 5 percent, the Middle East down 9 percent, and Asia down 3 percent.

Findings from NAFSA Joint Survey of Foreign Enrollment

Roughly the same number of institutions reported decreases in the number of enrolling foreign undergraduates in 2004 as reported increases; however, 44 percent of institutions reported a decline in continuing undergraduates, while only 16 percent reported an increase.
More than half of the responding doctoral and research institutions reported a decline in new international graduate enrollments in fall 2004.
Among institutions that indicated a decline in either new or continuing international undergraduate student enrollment, 40 percent indicated that visa delays and denials were the top factor, while 20 percent noted a decrease in number of applications.
Forty percent of campuses experiencing a decline in new or continuing international graduate students cited visa delays and denials as the most important reason for the decline, but the campuses with the largest foreign enrollments cited visa delays considerably less, suggesting that international competition and the drop in applications are equally important factors.

DID YOU KNOW?

572,509 international students studied in the U.S. in 2003-04.
India is the leading country of origin for international students, with 79,736 students in the U.S.
The most popular fields of study for international students are business and management (19 percent), engineering (17 percent), and mathematics and computer sciences (12 percent).

More information about the Open Doors report is available on IIE's Web site. Information about NAFSA's recent survey, including a press release and a summary of results, is also available online.