70% of int`l engg students in US from India, China: Report

Houston: Seventy per cent of international students studying engineering in the US are from China and India, according to a new report. "SEVIS by the Numbers," a quarterly report of international students studying in the US, was released yesterday by the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP), part of the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement`s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

As of July 8, 9,66,333 international students were enrolled in nearly 9,000 US schools using an F (academic) or M (vocational) visa. This marks a nearly five per cent decrease from April, primarily due to graduation rates, but an eight percent increase when compared to July 2013. The July report included a special section that focuses on China. According to it, seventy-five percent of all international students were from Asia, with 28 per cent from China. As of July 8, there were 2,70,596 international students from China studying in the US. The majority of these students studied in California, New York, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Illinois. The report further said that nearly 3,50,000 international students pursued STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) coursework in July. Sixty-nine per cent of international students studying STEM fields were male. Eighty-five per cent of international students studying STEM coursework are from Asia. Seventy per cent of international students studying engineering are from China and India. More international students study engineering than any other STEM field of study, it said. South Korea and Vietnam had the greatest percentage decrease in students studying in the US at eight per cent and seven per cent, respectively, when compared to April figures. The top 10 countries of citizenship for international students included: China, India, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Canada, Japan, Taiwan, Vietnam, Mexico and Brazil. The University of Southern California, Purdue University, the University of Illinois, New York University and Columbia University rank one through five among US schools with the most international students. The report is based on data from the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS), a web-based system that includes information on international students, exchange visitors and their dependents while they are in the US. A school must be SEVP-certified before it can enroll international students. SEVP monitors approximately one million international students pursuing academic or vocational studies (F and M visa holders) in the US and their dependents. It also certifies schools and programmes that enroll these students.