Indians Top Foreign Student Group

For the eighth consecutive year, India sent the largest number of foreign students to the United States, topping 100,000 for the first time for any country, according to the 2009 annual report of the Institute of International Education Open Doors.

Texas (11,987) has the largest Indian student population, followed by California (11,462) and New York (10,716). However, the proportion of Indians in the foreign student body is highest in Connecticut (30%), followed by New Jersey (24%) and Alabama (23%). Indians are the leading foreign student group in 17 states and the second largest group in 14 others. Indeed, they are among the top 5 foreign student groups in all but four states (West Virginia, Washington, Hawaii and Alaska).

The institute does not report country breakdowns for individual universities, but the University of Southern California had the largest number of foreign students (7,482), followed by New York University and Columbia University.

There is little reciprocal interest in Indian education in the United States. India ranks as the 17th most popular choice among U.S. students studying abroad. Even though India experienced the greatest growth in U.S. student enrollment (20 percent) between 2007 to 2008, just 1.2 percent of the U.S. students in study abroad programs headed to India, a quarter those selecting China. The United Kingdom, Italy and Spain are the most popular destinations for U.S. students, according to Open Doors.

Statewide Distribution of Indian Students
State	Indian Students	Percent of Total	State Rank
		Foreign Students

Texas	11987	20.6	1
California	11462	12.3	3
New York	10716	14.3	2
Illinois	6426	21.5	1
Pennsylvania	5038	18.3	1
Ohio	4497	21.7	1
Massachusetts	4297	12.7	2
Michigan	3897	16.5	2
Florida	3829	12.6	1
New Jersey	3563	24.1	1
Indiana	3095	18.1	2
Connecticut	2700	29.5	1
North Carolina	2640	21.6	1
Georgia	2384	17.0	1
Virginia	2220	15.2	1
Arizona	2071	19.2	1
Missouri	1839	16.3	2
Maryland	1836	12.9	2
Alabama	1588	23.3	1
Louisiana	1348	21.7	1
Minnesota	1269	11.7	2
Oklahoma	1176	13.9	1
Kansas	1170	13.5	2
Iowa	1109	12.3	2
Kentucky	966	20.3	1
Wisconsin	908	10.5	3
Colorado	741	10.8	3
Tennessee	688	12.1	2
South Carolina	670	16.9	1
District of Columbia	645	7.6	3
Washington	574	3.6	9
Mississippi	567	21.9	2
New Mexico	469	17.9	1
Arkansas	439	13.1	1
Oregon	432	6.5	5
North Dakota	412	15.8	3
Rhode Island	407	9.9	3
Utah	365	5.8	4
Nebraska	321	7.4	3
Delaware	308	18.4	2
New Hampshire	273	11.5	2
Nevada	271	9.0	3
South Dakota	207	22.2	2
Idaho	191	8.9	3
West Virginia	115	4.2	7
Montana	92	7.5	5
Maine	92	7.3	3
Vermont	82	8.0	3
Wyoming	66	7.4	3
Puerto Rico	18	1.9	9
Virgin Islands	6	3.6	5
Total US	103,260	15.4	1

Foreign Enrollment in India

Just 18,594 foreign students are enrolled in Indian universities, which have a total enrollment of almost 12 million. The largest foreign student group in India is from Iran, followed by United Arab Emirates and Nepal. Under 4 percent of all foreign students in India are from the United States, according to 2007 data from the Association of Indian Universities.

International student enrollment at Indian Universities

Rank	Country	% of total
		international enrollment
1	Iran	11.70%
2	United Arab Emirates	10.10%
3	Nepal	9.30%
4	Ethiopia	5.60%
5	Saudi Arabia	4.10%
6	Kenya	3.30%
7	United States	3.30%
8	Oman	3.30%
9	Yemen	3.20%
10	Bhutan	2.90%

Global Destinations of International Students

Source: Atlas of Student Mobility, 2008

Top 10 Educational Destinations
For Indian Students

Rank	Country	No. of Students
1	United States	79,219
2	Australia	22039*
3	United Kingdom	19,204
4	Germany	4339*
5	Canada	2826*
6	New Zealand	1563*
7	Malaysia	1262*
8	Ukraine	1,170
9	Kazakhstan	968
10	Cyprus	793

Source: Association of Indian Universities

International Students in U. S. universities

Rank	Place of Origin	Students	% of Total
1	India	103,260	15.4
2	China	98,235	14.6
3	South Korea	75,065	11.3
4	Canada	29,697	4.4
5	Japan	29,264	4.4
6	Taiwan	28,065	4.2
7	Mexico	14,850	2.2
8	Turkey	13,263	2.0
9	Vietnam	12,823	1.9
10	Saudi Arabia	12,661	1.9
11	Nepal	11,581	1.7
12	Germany	9,679	1.4
13	Brazil	8,767	1.3
14	Thailand	8,736	1.3
15	United Kingdom	8,701	1.3
16	Hong Kong	8,329	1.2
17	Indonesia	7,509	1.1
18	France	7,421	1.1
19	Colombia	7,013	1.0
20	Nigeria	6,256	0.9
21	Malaysia	5,942	0.9
22	Kenya	5,877	0.9
23	Pakistan	5,298	0.8
24	Russia	4,908	0.7
25	Venezuela	4,678	0.7
	WORLD TOTAL	671,616	100

Source: Open Doors 2009, Institute of International Education

Leading Destinations of U.S. "Study Abroad" Students

	Destination	Students	% of Total
1	United Kingdom	33,333	12.7
2	Italy	30,670	11.7
3	Spain	25,212	9.6
4	France	17,336	6.6
5	China	13,165	5
6	Australia	11,042	4.2
7	Mexico	9,928	3.8
8	Germany	8,253	3.1
9	Ireland	6,881	2.6
10	Costa Rica	6,096	2.3
11	Japan	5,710	2.2
12	Argentina	4,109	1.6
13	Greece	3,847	1.5
14	South Africa	3,700	1.4
15	Czech Republic	3,417	1.3
16	Austria	3,356	1.3
17	India	3,146	1.2
18	Ecuador	2,814	1.1
19	Chile	2,739	1.0
20	Brazil	2,723	1.0
21	New Zealand	2,629	1.0
22	Israel	2,322	0.9
23	Netherlands	2,038	0.8
24	Switzerland	1,942	0.7
25	Russia	1,857	0.7
	WORLD TOTAL	262,416	100