Number of foreign students receiving US higher education tops one million

WASHINGTON, Nov 14 (Xinhua) -- The amount of international students studying in US colleges and universities exceeded 1 million for the first time in the 2015-16 academic year, up 7.1 percent from the previous year and nearly double the level of a decade ago, according to the latest federal data issued Monday.

China continues to send the most students to the United Sates, up 8.1 percent over the prior academic year and making up some 31.5 percent (328,547 students) of all international enrolments in the United States, according to the "Open Doors" report issued by the Institute of International Education (IIE).

India comes second, with 165,918 students representing a 25 percent rise from the 2014-15 academic year. It is followed by Saudi Arabia (61,287), South Korea (61,007) and Canada (26,973).

International students spent about 30.5 billion dollars in the United States last year, according to the IIE, noting that U.S. higher education has become more dependent on that revenue. U.S. public universities often charge foreign students two to three times what domestic students pay.

Meanwhile, the number of American students studying abroad has steadily increased, with more than 100,000 more students studying abroad in 2014-15 compared to ten years ago. The top five countries of choice by U.S. students are Britain, Italy, Spain, France and China.

Though the United States and Britain remain the largest two destinations for foreign students, the report projected that investment in higher education by China is reshaping the global marketplace.

By 2020, China is expected to attract more international students than Britain and becomes second to the United States, a Wall Street Journal report suggested, citing the influence of Britain's choice to leave the European Union.

In 2015, 60 percent of international students studying in China came from other Asian countries. South Koreans alone sent 66,672 last year. The number of South Koreans studying in the U.S. declined last year by 4 percent to 61,007, said the report.