US international enrollment reached record highs. Will the trend last?

Higher Ed Dive

Laura Spitalniak

November 18, 2024

Dive Brief:

• The number of international students at U.S. colleges hit an all-time high in the 2023-24 academic year, growing 6.6% year over year to reach more than 1.1 million students, according to the annual Open Doors report from the Institute of International Education and the U.S. Department of State.

• U.S. institutions enrolled over 502,000 international graduate students last year, another record-breaking total representing a 7.6% increase from 2022-23. However, international undergraduate enrollment declined 1.4% to roughly 343,000 students.

• Open Doors predicted continued growth of international enrollment for the 2024-25 academic year, based on its preliminary fall findings. But the federal government’s visa and work programs for international students could experience upheaval under President-elect Donald Trump’s second term, some experts say.

Dive Insight:

Though international students make up just 6% of higher education students, they play an important role in the sector and in the economy more broadly.

They are more likely than U.S. students to pay a college’s full sticker price, offering a financial boon for tuition-dependent institutions. International college students contributed more than $50 billion to the U.S. economy in 2023, per data from the U.S. Department of Commerce.

The 6.6% increase in international students follows significant gains seen the year prior, when their enrollment jumped 11.5% year over year in 2022-23. With recent gains, international student enrollment has now recovered from steep losses seen during the pandemic.

Open Doors’ total count includes international students attending U.S. colleges in person and those participating in the Optional Practical Training program. OPT allows student visa holders to work up to a year in the U.S. in their field of study, with a two-year extension available for those educated in STEM fields.

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