There are more than 1 million international students in the US. Here’s where they’re from

By Luke McGee and Henrik Pettersson, CNN

International students in the United Statescould be made to leave country if their universities decide to only offer online courses, Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced on Monday night.

The vast majority of those students came from Asian countries, with the largest numbers by some distance coming from China (369,548) and India (202,014). By contrast, only 26,122 came from Canada (in fifth place) and 15,229 from Mexico (in tenth place).

While 2018-2019 set a new all-time high for overseas students in the US, IIE data shows small dips in intake over the years spanning 2016-2019, which coincide with the election and presidency of Donald Trump.

According to the IIE, funded by overseas, rather than being funded by their host institutions, meaning that international students are big business for American universities. While students will still be required pay tuition fees, it’s possible that a hostile policy towards people seeking to study in the US could discourage prospective students.

New York City is home to the most international students, thanks to New York University and Columbia University playing host to 19,605 and 15,897 students respectively.

Relatively few overseas students came from European countries, while European nations are the most popular destinations for American students studying overseas. Of America’s 341,751 overseas students, 12% are in the UK, 11% are in Italy, 10% are in Spain and 5% are in France. Conversely, the 51 nations that IIE counted as European countries only accounted for 8% of international students currently in the US.