SYRACUSE – For the first time in 15 years, Indian students outnumber Chinese students at universities and colleges in the United States. Over 330,000 Indian students pursued higher education in the US this past academic year.
China and India have dominated the US foreign student population for decades. From 2009 to 2023, Chinese students were the largest international student group in the US. Prior to that, India claimed the top spot for eight years.
This latest shift has been several years in the making, enrollment data shows. In the years following the Covid-19 pandemic, Chinese student enrollment has been on a constant decline, while that of India has only surged. Last year, the Indian student population saw a whopping 23 percent increase, building on the momentum of a 35 percent climb the year before.
Data on international student enrollment for the 2023-24 academic year was released on November 18 by the US Department of State and the Institute of International Education (IIE).
The continued drop in Chinese student numbers – even post-Covid – is due to both economic and geopolitical factors, said Madelyn Ross, former President of the US-China Education Trust (USCET).
Following China’s middle-class boom in the 2000s, its economy is now slowing down. Less families can afford to send children abroad for studies. At the same time, China’s universities are steadily improving in quality and ranking, making a local education more attractive. High US-China tensions have also led many students to opt for other countries that are wooing them.
“Families are reluctant to send younger students into a politically tense and less welcoming environment, especially when they have good options in China and elsewhere,” said Ross, who has worked in China-related positions for four decades. She was among the first Americans to study in China following the establishment of official US-China diplomacy in 1978.
As for the surge in Indian students, a pull factor for many has been the prospect of living in the US in the long-run. The Indian-American diaspora, which numbers over 5 million, serves as an inspiration for family and peers back home, according to Dr. Uttiyo Raychaudhuri, Vice Provost for Internationalization at the University of Denver.
“When people see their cousins or relatives in the US and that they’ve succeeded, that becomes an attraction,” said Raychaudhuri. “Kamala Harris’ mother came to the US as a student for the same reason – to get an education. What a fantastic story of an immigrant’s daughter running for President. These are powerful stories.”
The parents of Usha Vance – wife of incoming Vice Presidential-elect JD Vance – migrated to the US in the 1980s from Andhra Pradesh.
India’s rapid population growth has intensified competition for local university admissions and employment, making an American education all the more appealing, Raychaudhuri added.
Raychaudhuri first came to the US to study at the University of Georgia and is now an American citizen. He leads a project aimed at furthering higher education partnerships between Indian and American institutions, in collaboration with the US Consulate General in Mumbai.
According to the same IIE report, the number of international students in the US has also reached a historical record, surpassing the 1.1 million mark for the first time in recorded history.
Enrollment has climbed steadily over the decades. Earliest records, from 1950, showed an international student population of just 25,000. That is just under the number of international students that attended New York University (NYU) alone last year.
Over 27,000 international students attended New York University last year, according to IIE data. (Credit: Unsplash/ Jeremy Huang)
Large, recognizable institutions tend to draw the most foreign applicants. Besides NYU, Northeastern University and Columbia University hosted the most international students last year.
International students are also overwhelmingly Asian. Three-quarters of them originate from the continent.
In a USCET survey of Chinese students who graduated between 1991 and 2021, most reported positive experiences studying in the US, looking back on their time abroad with warm feelings.
But India’s eclipsing could signify a new status quo in which Chinese student enrollment is unlikely to return to pre-pandemic levels – a reality which current US-China relations seem to be pointing towards.
