With 47% international students, China and India made Asia the most popular continent of origin in 2021
With almost half (47%) of all the international students coming to the US in 2021 hailing from either China or India, made Asia the most popular continent of origin, according to a new report.
However, China with 348,992 sent 33,569 or 8.77% fewer students in 2021 in comparison to 2020, while India with 232,851 sent 25,391 or 12.24% more students, according to the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) annual report released Wednesday.
With Covid-19 pandemic continuing to impact international student enrollment in the US in 2021 the total number of F-1 and M-1 students decreased by 1.2% to 1,236,748 in the calendar year 2021.
Read: US remains most favored destination for Indian students: survey (February 11, 2022)
The overall number of active F-1 and M-1 students coming from Asia decreased by 34,781 from calendar year 2020 to calendar year 2021.
Still, 71.9 percent of all international students in the United States call Asia home. Other Asian countries sent fewer students including South Korea (-9,430), Saudi Arabia (-9,439) and Japan (-6,155).
Of the top 10 countries of citizenship in calendar year 2021, the average female enrollment was 44.5 percent (380,062) and the average male enrollment was 55.5 percent (473,960).
The female male ratio in the case of India was 37% 63% while that in the case of China was 48% to 52%, according to the report.
Forty-seven percent (581,843) of all active student records hailed from either China (348,992) or India (232,851) in calendar year 2021, the same percentage as calendar year 2020.
Forty-four percent (548,705) of F-1 and M-1 international students in calendar year 2021 were female, while 56 percent (687,534) were male.
Of K-12 student enrollments in 2021, 42.6 percent were female (19,596). In addition, 44 percent (195,511) of bachelor’s and master’s international students were female, 50.2 percent (34,886) of international students seeking associate degrees were female and 40 percent (76,394) of international students seeking doctoral degrees were female in 2021.
Between the calendar year 2020 and calendar year 2021 reporting period, the total number of F-1 and M-1 international student records decreased by 14,821 (-1.18 percent).
In calendar year 2021, international students in the US hailed from 225 countries and pursued 1,485 different primary majors.
They engaged in studies across a variety of education levels, from primary schools to flight training schools to higher education.
Most F-1 and M-1 students come to the US to take part in the higher education system. In 2021, roughly 92 percent of all F-1 and M-1 students were enrolled in an SEVP- certified associate, bachelor’s, master’s or doctoral program.
Specifically, international students in the United States pursued 1,142,352 degrees in higher education, which is an increase from calendar year 2020 (1,121,981).
There were 69,495 F-1 students who sought an associate degree in calendar year 2021, which accounted for almost six percent of degrees pursued by the international student population. In calendar year 2020, a total of 85,909 F-1 students sought an associate degree, which accounted for eight percent of degrees sought by the international student population.
The number of students enrolled in associate degree programs decreased 19.1 percent (-16,414) between calendar year 2020 and 2021.
There were 881,830 F-1 students who sought either a bachelor’s (443,440) or master’s (438,390) degree in calendar year 2021, which accounted for 71 percent of degrees sought by the international student population.
These two levels of education were the most popular among international students studying in the United States. The percentage of students pursuing bachelor’s degrees decreased by .5 percent (-2,219) and the percentage of students pursuing master’s degrees increased by 6.6 percent (27,050) between calendar year 2020 and 2021.
Read: India sends more students to US; China still tops with fewer (April 7, 2022)
There were 191,027 F-1 students who sought a doctoral degree in calendar year 2021, which accounted for 15.4 percent of degrees sought by the international student population.
In calendar year 2020, 179,073 F-1 students sought a doctoral degree, which accounted for 15.7 percent of degrees sought by the international student population.
The number of students enrolled in doctoral programs increased 6.7 percent (11,954) between calendar year 2020 and 2021.