According to the 2011 "Open Doors'' report, published by the Institute of International Education (IIE) on November 14, 2011, international education on a world-wide basis is stronger than ever, with more students coming into the United States to study, and more U.S. students leaving the United States to study abroad. Of particular interest to the LewerMark Student Insurance team was the institute's report that the number of students from China coming to the U.S. to study is at an all time high.
According to the Open Doors report, students from China, particularly at the undergraduate level, largely account for the growth this past year. The number of Chinese students increased by 23 percent in total and by 43 percent at the undergraduate level. These increases have been felt across the United States, with the top 20 host universities and top 10 host states each hosting more international students than in the prior year. Women represent approximately 45 percent of the total number of international students.
Chinese student enrollment in the United States rose to a total of nearly 158,000 students, or nearly 23 percent of the total international student population, making China the leading sending country for the second year in a row.
LewerMark Student Insurance is already seeing the results of the trend of Chinese students flooding U.S. graduate schools due to the booming economy in China. Last summer, LewerMark Student Insurance worked with Washington University – St. Louis, providing medical coverage for a new group of Chinese foreign exchange students, and expect more programs to follow.
“Schools realize the need to bolster their reputations for offering a ‘global’ education that exposes students to people and ideas from around the world,” said LewerMark Director Jeff Crawford. “For our business school clients, there is a strong need to meet the demands of corporate recruiters, who are increasingly seeking candidates capable of working in a multinational environment. We are excited about this trend. LewerMark will continue to grow as more students from China enroll in the programs."
“International students contributed more than $21 billion to the U.S. economy in the 2010/11 academic year," Jeff continued. "Higher education is among the United States’ top service sector exports. The Open Doors report is good news not just for providers of higher education, but for all Americans. We are very excited about being able to provide an important service within this market.”
In addition to the reporting of more students from China coming to the U.S. to study, the Open Doors report revealed the following general international education trends:
- The number of international students at colleges and universities in the United States increased by five percent to 723,277 during the 2010/2011 academic year.
- The number of international students studying in the United States is at a record high, marking the fifth consecutive year that Open Doors figures show growth in the total number of international students.
- There are now 32 percent more international students studying at U.S. colleges and universities than there were a decade ago.
Furthermore, according to the report, 63 percent of all international students receive the majority of their funds from personal and family sources. When other sources of foreign funding are included, such as assistance from their home country governments or universities, almost 70 percent of all international students’ primary funding, including tuition, comes from sources outside of the United States.
