A new online tool has been launched to aid in understanding the world-wide migration patterns of students studying abroad. Project Atlas was posted to the Internet by the New-York based Institute of International Education (IEE) at www.atlas.iienetwork.org.

The Web site includes a brief summary of each country, including their role in overseas study, the latest data on host country international students and their countries of origin, extensive tables of data and news articles and papers of interest.

Some facts are worth highlighting: As a destination for international students, the United States hosted 572,509 guests in 2003-04, 4 percent of the 13,382,553 higher education students in attendance that year. However, U.S. campuses experienced the first absolute decline in foreign enrollments— a drop of 2.4 percent—in more than 30 years.

The top 10 counties of origin for U.S. international students (2003-04) are as follows:

India - 13.9 percent
China - 10.8 percent
South Korea - 9.2 percent
Japan - 7.1 percent
Canada - 4.7 percent
Taiwan - 4.6 percent
Mexico - 2.3 percent
Turkey - 2.0 percent
Thailand - 1.6 percent
Indonesia - 1.6 percent

More than half of U.S. international students come from Asian countries. There were 2,000 more Chinese students coming to our schools in 2003 than in 2000. However, the U.S. share of the total market of Chinese students abroad fell from 81 percent in 2000 to just 46 percent in 2003. More are choosing to go to the United Kingdom and Australia.

As a place of origin for international students, the United States sent 174,629 scholars abroad in 2003-04, 1.3 percent of the total of higher education students in attendance that year. This was an 8.5 percent increase from the year before and a 145 percent increase since 1991/92.

The top countries of destination for U.S. students abroad (2002-03) are as follows:

United Kingdom - 18.2 percent
Italy - 10.8 percent
Spain - 10.8 percent
France - 7.5 percent
Australia - 6.1 percent
Mexico - 5.0 percent
Germany - 3.2 percent
Ireland - 2.8 percent
Costa Rica - 2.5 percent
Japan - 2.0 percent

More than 80 percent of U.S. students abroad traveled to English-speaking countries and 37 percent studied in the European Union.

The increase in the number of American students traveling overseas for their studies shows that this is an increasingly popular option. According to IIE President Allan Goodman, “These increasing numbers show that American students are continuing to reach out to the rest of the world, to experience other cultures firsthand, and to become more engaged in international affairs. However, those who do so are still a very small proportion of all U.S. students.”

The decrease in the number of international students coming to the United States has been countered by a streamlining of various visa review procedures as well as a change in policy to speed up the timely review of applications and extend clearances for multiple years.

Atlas of Student Mobility - The Official Web Site of Project Atlas - www.atlas.iienetwork.org

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