There were over a million international students enrolled in US Universities and Colleges in 2019-20. China is the top source country of international students arriving in the US for higher education. In the last academic year. Around 372,532 Chinese students enrolled in the US, closely followed by Indian students at 193,124. India and China together make up 50% of international student enrollment in the US. The third place is occupied by South Korea, followed by Saudi Arabia and Canada.
How Were Chinese Student Visa Applications Affected During the COVID-19 Pandemic?
During the 2019-20 academic year, around 372,000 Chinese students were enrolled in undergraduate programs in the US, making up almost 35% of the total international student population. According to the US Department of Commerce, international students contribute over $44 billion to the US economy every year. Chinese students living in the US during this period contributed $15.9 billion in terms of living expenses, tuition fees, etc.
In 2020, Student Visa applications from Chinese students declined by 18% compared to 2019. Despite the decline, there was a 9% increase in admission applications received by US universities and colleges from international students in 2021. This increase can be attributed to the election of President Joe Biden last November.
The election of a new administration after Donald Trump has given hope to many foreign students and workers. However, there was a drop in Chinese students’ interest in coming to the US for higher education. This dwindling interest will hamper a steady source of revenue for major US universities.
The declining interest may be attributed to the increase in anti-Asian racism in the US amid the pandemic and rising political tensions between the US and China.
What Are the Top 25 United States Universities and Colleges for Chinese Students?
Chinese students come to the US mainly to study mathematics and computer science, followed closely by engineering, and business and management courses. According to the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the US universities with the most Chinese student population are as follows. These universities have been determined based on the Student Visas issued to Chinese students with a letter of acceptance from the following universities:
|
Rank |
Universities |
|
1 |
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign |
|
2 |
University of Southern California |
|
3 |
Purdue University |
|
4 |
Northeastern University |
|
5 |
Columbia University |
|
6 |
Michigan State University |
|
7 |
Ohio State University |
|
8 |
University of California, Los Angeles |
|
9 |
Indiana University |
|
10 |
University of California, Berkeley |
|
11 |
New York University |
|
12 |
Pennsylvania State University |
|
13 |
University of Minnesota |
|
14 |
University of Washington Seattle |
|
15 |
Arizona State University |
|
16 |
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor |
|
17 |
Boston University |
|
18 |
Illinois Institute of Technology |
|
19 |
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey |
|
20 |
University of Texas, Dallas |
|
21 |
University of Wisconsin-Madison |
|
22 |
University of California, San Diego |
|
23 |
Carnegie Mellon University |
|
24 |
State University of New York, Stony Brook |
|
25 |
Syracuse University |
