The number of international students as a percentage of the total enrolled population has doubled in the last 20 years.
The number of international students enrolled at U.S. colleges and universities has surged in recent decades and reached an all-time high in the 2023-24 school year, a trend that could be upended by the Trump administration’s increased vetting of student visa seekers.
International enrollment in U.S. undergraduate and graduate programs, combined with students on Optional Practical Training programs in their area of study, reached a new high with 1,126,690 students in the 2023-24 school year, a 6.6 percent increase from the year before, according to right-leaning parental rights organization Defending Education.
Defending Education’s report, first obtained by National Review, found that international students make up 6 percent of total U.S. enrollment and contributed nearly $44 billion to the economy during the 2023-24 school year. The number of international students as a percentage of the total enrolled population has doubled from 3.2 percent two decades ago, in the 2005-2006 academic year.
“An overwhelming number of parents believe that American institutions—especially those funded by their tax dollars—should serve American families first. They naturally expect their children to be given priority for opportunities in their own country. Yet many of these same parents see their kids weighed down by rising tuition, student loan debt, and increasingly competitive admissions, and they’re searching for answers,” said Paul Runko, director of strategic initiatives at Defending Education.
“It’s only natural for parents seeing these numbers to ask: are colleges prioritizing foreign students over American applicants, or are K-12 schools failing to prepare American students to compete?”
The report follows a poll Defending Education conducted in May showing that 79 percent of parents believe American students should be prioritized in admissions over foreign peers.
Defending Education’s report is based primarily on data from the Institute of International Education’s Open Doors report, which is generated from a survey conducted with the State Department’s bureau of educational and cultural affairs. The Defending Education report tracks data from 125 colleges and universities, including some of the most prestigious U.S. schools.
“With so much talk of foreign funding and foreign influence in higher ed, we wanted to move beyond the inflammatory rhetoric and take a look at the actual numbers. Our report tells the story of rapidly increasing number of international students enrolling in our institutions of higher education, especially at the graduate level in STEM. The next question to answer is, why is this the case?” said Erika Sanzi, director of outreach at Defending Education.
Among foreign nations, India led the way with 331,602 students, usurping China as the country with the most students attending U.S. institutions in 2023-24. China was second with 227,398 and South Korea was a distant third with 43,149 students at U.S. universities.
At some universities, international students made up a considerable portion of total enrollment. For instance, New York University’s 27,247 international students comprise 44 percent of its student body, and represent the highest number of foreign students at any U.S. institution.
Likewise, Northwestern University had the second most total international students at 21,023, making up 64 percent of its student body. Third place in total international students is Columbia University, where they represent 58 percent of its total enrollment.
Schools specializing in STEM fields also have large percentages of international students because a majority of them, 56 percent, choose STEM disciplines. At the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a prestigious STEM school, international enrollees make up 45 percent of the student population. Carnegie Mellon, another top STEM school, has 9,607 international students, constituting 58 percent of its total enrollment.
Similarly, foreign constitute 63 percent of the student body at the Stevens Institute of Technology and 70 percent at the Illinois Institute of Technology, two other STEM-focused schools. Of the STEM students coming from abroad, 25 percent of them are studying math and computer science, and 19 percent are in engineering programs.
Overall, the U.S. has the highest number of international students of any country, but their proportion of total U.S. enrollment is lower than several peer nations including the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, and France.
During Trump’s second term, foreign influence on higher education and campus activism by international students have become subjects of national debate. U.S. institutions have received nearly $60 billion of foreign gifts and donations over the past few decades, with roughly $12 billion of the funding coming from China and Qatar alone.
Anti-Israel campus activism and the Chinese Communist Party’s theft of critical research have prompted the Trump administration to increase vetting of student visa applicants. The most prominent activist to face potential deportation is anti-Israel Columbia University activist Mahmoud Khalil, who was released from detention in June after an order from a federal judge.
Khalil came to the U.S. on a student visa and now holds a green card. He has not been charged with a crime but the Trump administration detained him under a law allowing the U.S. to deport opponents of American foreign policy.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said the administration will “aggressively” revoke visas for Chinese students, especially those with ties to the CCP or studying critical fields of research. The State Department is also working to cancel visas of foreign students who express sympathy for U.S. designated terrorist organizations like Hamas.
It remains unclear how much the Trump administration’s crackdown will impact total international student enrollment. Restrictions on internal student enrollment is part of the Trump administration’s larger effort to reform the higher education system to increase ideological diversity and return to merit-based admissions and hiring.