According to the latest data released by the United States, the number of international students studying in the United States in the 2019-20 academic year continues to exceed 1 million, but this is a decrease of 1.8% from the previous academic year. This is the first decline since the 2005-2006 academic year.
According to a report from U.S. News and World Report on Monday, the 2020 report released by the U.S. non-governmental organization “Institute of International Education” and the Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs of the State Department also showed the number of international freshmen enrolled in the 2019-2020 academic year There are more than 267,000 people, a decrease of only 0.6%, which is better than the 6.6% drop in freshmen enrollment two years ago, indicating that the downward trend has stabilized.
At the same time, the number of international students participating in the Optional Practical Training program (OPT) has increased by 0.2% during the 2019-20 academic year, continuing the trend of increasing number of OPT internships in recent years. The program allows international students to intern or find employment in American companies directly related to their field of study after or before graduation.
Compared with previous academic years, engineering is still the first choice for international students, followed by mathematics, computer science, business and management. Although the number of international students choosing engineering dropped by 4.4%, 20.5% of the total number of international students still choose this major.
Among the three countries with the most students studying in the United States, the number of Chinese students enrolled in the fall of 2019 increased by 0.8%, India fell by 4.4%, and South Korea fell by 4.7%.
Overall, China has the largest number of students studying in the United States, accounting for 34.6% of the total number of international students studying in the United States in the 2019-2020 academic year, India accounting for 19%, and South Korea 4.6%.
Although U.S.-China relations have tended to become tense and worse in the past year or two, U.S. officials said that they continue to welcome Chinese students to study in the United States. Anthony Colia, head of the Office of Global Education Programs of the US State Department, said, “We continue to welcome Chinese students to engage in legal studies in all fields”, “We know that Chinese students want to come to the United States, we want them to come, and we want to ensure that they have the opportunity to experience the United States. Democracy and the rule of law”.
According to the report, the 2020 study abroad report is based on the admission data of the 2019 season and did not include the impact of the new crown virus epidemic. However, the report’s forecast for the future takes into account the factors of the new crown virus epidemic, and the prospects of future international students studying in the United States are not very optimistic.
According to a survey of 710 universities and colleges in more than 2,900 schools, the international student enrollment rate dropped by 16% in the fall of 2020, mainly due to a 43% drop in freshmen enrollment. In addition, nearly 40,000 international students have suspended their enrollment in the fall of 2020 and will postpone their enrollment in the future.
However, American experts said that after the global pandemic of the new coronavirus, international students will once again flock to American universities.
Reblog from：https://www.voachinese.com/a/international-student-numbers-US-drop-20201116/5664508.html
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