Number of Indian students in US rose in 2022, those from China declined: Report

NEW DELHI: In 2022, India sent more students to the United States as compared to the previous year while China sent fewer, according to a new report. “The number of students from China and India made Asia the most popular continent of origin. Comparable to the drop from the calendar year 2020 to 2021, China sent fewer students in 2022 compared to 2021 (-24,796), while India sent more students (+64,300),” US Immigration and Customs Enforcement said in its annual report.

According to the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP), the number of international students enrolled at kindergarten through grade 12 schools increased 7.8 per cent from 2021 to 2022 (+3,887). No K-12 schools hosted more than 700 international students in the calendar year 2022, similar to the calendar year 2021, the report said. All four regions in the United States saw an increase in international student records from 2021 to 2022, with respective increases ranging from 8 to 11 per cent, the report said. There were 117,301 pre and post-completion optional practical training (OPT) students with both an employment authorisation document (EAD) and who reported working for an employer in the calendar year 2022, compared to 115,651 in the calendar year 2021 — a 1.4 per cent increase, it said.

In the calendar year 2022; 7,683 SEVP-certified schools were eligible to enroll international students, a decrease of 400 schools from 2021 (8,038 schools), it said. In 2022, California hosted 225,173 international students, the largest percentage of international students (16.5 per cent) of any US state, the report said. There were 276,723 active exchange visitors in the United States in 2022 compared to 240,479 active exchange visitors in 2021 — a 15 per cent increase. The report said 46 per cent (6,21,347) of all active SEVIS records hailed from either China (3,24,196) or India (2,97,151) in the calendar year 2022, one percentage point fewer than calendar year 2021.

The overall number of active F-1 and M-1 student records coming from Asia increased by 68,678 from the calendar year 2021 to the calendar year 2022, with student record trends varying across different countries. Seventy per cent of all international students in the United States call Asia home. Other Asian countries that sent fewer students this year compared to last include Saudi Arabia (-4,115), Kuwait (-658) and Malaysia (-403).