The Institute for International Education is an independent non-profit organization founded in 1919. It is a world leader in the exchange of people and ideas. IIE administers over 200 programs serving more than 20,000 individuals each year.
The number of international students enrolled in colleges and universities in the United States increased by 3% to a total of 582,984 in the 2006/07 academic year, according to the Open Doors report, published annually by the Institute of International Education (IIE) with support from the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. This is the first significant increase in total international student enrollments since 2001/02.
India remains the leading sending place of origin by a large margin, experiencing a 10% increase to 83,833. This is the 6th consecutive year that India has sent the most students to the United States. China remains in second place, with numbers up 8% to 67,723; and the Republic of Korea, in third place, increased 6% to 62,392.
The top ten most popular fields of study for international students in the U.S. in 2006/07 were Business and Management (18% of total), Engineering (15%) and Physical and Life Sciences (9%), followed closely by Social Sciences (8%), Mathematics and Computer Sciences (8%), Fine & Applied Arts (5%) Health Professions (5%), Intensive English Language (4%), Education (3%), Humanities (3%). Fields experiencing growth include Intensive English Language (up 30%) and Social Sciences (up 6%).
For the sixth year in a row, the University of Southern California is the leading host institution (7,115). Columbia University hosts the second highest number of foreign students (5,937). Other campuses in the top 10 are: New York University (5,827), University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (5,685), Purdue University (5,581), University of Michigan – Ann Arbor (5,429), University of Texas at Austin (5,303), UCLA (4,704), Harvard (4,514), Boston University (4,484), and University of Pennsylvania (4,484).