Indians remained the biggest group of foreign students in the United States in the last academic year, but Chinese scholars are showing growing interest in American varsities and are fast levelling up.
The number of foreign students in US grew by eight per cent to touch an all time record level of 671,616 in 2008-2009, the sharpest growth since 1980-81, with students from India making up the majority of entrants at 103,260, according to the Open Doors 2009 figures released yesterday.
But, China is fast catching up with more than 98,510 students heading for US, showing an increase of almost 21 per cent. This foreign student influx is proving an economic boon to the US.
"China was the largest sending country for many years until India surpassed it. China may again surpass India," Peggy Blumenthal, executive vice president and COO of the Institute of International Education, said.
The study showed that American varsities because of their reputation, flexibility and enrolment drive attract more foreign students than any other country and this was generating a revenue of more than USD 18 billion and an engine to kickstart the troubled US economy again.
While, two thirds of the Indian students start at the graduation level, a fair number also are in professional courses, the study said.
In 2007-08 and 2008-09, students from India made up slightly more than 15 per cent of the total foreign student population in the US.
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