India has overtaken China as the top source for international students in the US for the first time in about 15 years, according to new data released on Monday.
A total of 331,602 Indians studied in the US during the 2023-24 school year, compared with 277,398 Chinese, according to the latest annual survey by the Institute of International Education (IIE), a report sponsored by the US State Department. Indian students saw a 23 per cent increase from the previous academic year, while Chinese students saw a 4 per cent decrease.
Chinese students had been the largest foreign group since the 2009-10 school year, but their numbers have steadily declined from 2019-20 onward. That academic year, there were 372,532 Chinese studying in the US.
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Meanwhile, Indian students have seen a steady growth in numbers since the 2020-21 academic year, with the total for 2023-24 about twice as large as it was then.
The shift in rankings, in line with student visa data from the Department of Homeland Security, comes amid heightened anxiety from Chinese nationals in the US after Donald Trump’s election to the presidency. Trump’s first term saw numerous restrictions on travel and immigration, including a presidential proclamation to limit the entry of graduate students and researchers from China.
It also comes as American government officials signal a preference for Indians over Chinese in certain fields because of national security concerns. In June, US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell said he would like to see more Chinese students coming “to study the humanities and social sciences, not particle physics”.
In terms of science, computer science, engineering, maths and other “STEM” subjects, Campbell said he wanted to see “much larger numbers of Indian students”.
As with last year, the new IIE data shows about half (50.4 per cent) of the Chinese students in the US studying STEM subjects. In comparison, STEM students make up nearly three-quarters (72.8 per cent) of Indians studying in the US, similar to the previous year.
Continuing a trend from the previous academic year, the number of Chinese pursuing undergraduate studies declined for 2023-24, to 87,551 – a decrease of 12.8 per cent. In terms of total numbers of undergraduate students, however, China dwarfs other countries, including India.
Chinese graduate student numbers also fell to 122,778, a 2.6 per cent decrease from the previous school year.
Speaking to reporters, Marianne Craven of the State Department said that Chinese students were “very much welcome” in the US, noting that America was still the top foreign destination for Chinese students.
She added that the US government was making a “concerted effort” to attract Chinese students, citing a new student advising and recruitment centre that opened in Wuhan this year.
Responding to concerns about the incoming Trump administration’s impact on international exchange, IIE Chief Executive Officer Alan Goodman said that students have been welcomed “all through periods of hot and cold and good and bad relationships”.
“I think the flow is going to continue when we welcome them,” he said.
Chinese students cite various push and pull factors for not studying abroad or considering countries other than the US, including geopolitical tensions, safety concerns, high costs, uncertainty of job prospects in the US, and the growing strength of Chinese universities.
In the past year, the fear of being stopped or deported after arriving at the US border has been increasingly cited as a concern by Chinese students and scholars.
Changing demographics in China may also contribute to the trend in numbers, with the country experiencing a declining youth population.
IIE also maintains records for Americans studying abroad, but so far only data for the 2022-23 academic year is available. The organisation does not track Americans who are enrolled overseas for full degrees from non-US institutions, nor does it track non-credited educational experiences.
From 2022-23, 469 Americans were recorded as studying in China, an increase of 122 per cent from the decade-low figure of 211 in the 2021-22 school year. China relaxed Covid-19-related restrictions and began a pubic campaign for young Americans to visit in 2023, but American students have been slow to return.
At the start of the 2024-25 academic year, US ambassador to China Nicholas Burns said there were only approximately 800 Americans studying in China. That is a marked decrease from 2018-2019, when there were more than 11,000 American students in the mainland, according to IIE.
Unlike Chinese students who come to the US to study a large variety of disciplines, Americans often head to China to study the language as well as the country’s politics, economics and society.
But Americans cite similar reasons to Chinese for opting not to go to China, including geopolitical tensions and safety. They also point to declining programme support, particularly from the US government; logistical barriers such as adapting to China’s digital ecosystem; as well as alternatives like Taiwan for studying the Chinese language.
More from South China Morning Post:
- Survey of 30 years of Chinese students in US reflects pressures as well as satisfaction
- China sends more students to US universities than any other nation, survey finds, despite bilateral unease
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