According to Open Doors 2011, an annual report put out by the Institute of International Education with support from the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State, two Michigan universities placed in the top 10 in terms of international student enrollment.
The University of Michigan came in at number eight with 5,995 enrolled international students in the 2010/11 academic year, while Michigan State was ninth on the list with 5,784.
The report shows a total number of 723,277 international students attending U.S. colleges and universities during the 2010/11 school year, a five percent increase over the previous year.
A press release form the IIE says:
This is the fifth consecutive year that Open Doors figures show growth in the total number of international students, and there are now 32 percent more international students studying at U.S. colleges and universities than there were a decade ago. The 2010/11 rate of growth is stronger than the three percent increase in total international enrollment reported the previous year, and the six percent increase in new international student enrollment this past year shows more robust new growth than the one percent increase the prior year. Increased numbers of students from China, particularly at the undergraduate level, largely accounts for the growth this past year.
Included in the report is an assessment of possible positive economic results created by the increase in foriegn students:
International students contribute over $21 billion to the U.S. economy, through their expenditures on tuition and living expenses, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce. Higher education is among the United States' top service sector exports, as international students provide revenue to the U.S. economy and individual host states for living expenses, including room and board, books and supplies, transportation, health insurance, support for accompanying family members, and other miscellaneous items. Open Doors reports that more than 60% 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, over 70% of all international students' primary funding comes from sources outside of the United States.
As part of our Changing Gears series, Michigan Radio's Sarah Alvarez considers some impacts more international students could have on the Midwest as a whole.
-John Klein Wilson, Michigan Radio Newsroom
