The number of students engaging in international education is rising, perhaps even more so than before the COVID-19 pandemic, according to data from Institute of International Education (IIE).
Open Doors
The U.S. Department of State-sponsored Open Doors 2023 Report on International Educational Exchange – released Nov. 13 – details the trends for U.S. students studying abroad and international student enrollment, illustrating how both are seemingly on the rise after significantly declining amid the pandemic.
Among U.S. citizens and permanent residents, students from U.S. higher ed institutions are again studying abroad as part of their academic journeys, according to the data. During the 2021-2022 school year – when travel and study abroad programs were still affected by the pandemic – 188,753 students pursued opportunities abroad for academic credit, marking a drastic rebound from the 2020-2021 school year total of 14,549.
Before the pandemic struck, there had been a steady increase in the amount of American students studying abroad, with over 347,000 students doing so in the 2018-19 school year, IIE research specialist Julie Baer said in the report. But the pandemic prompted many schools to suspend such programs, leading to a 96% decline in U.S. study abroad between 2018-19 and 2021, she said.
“The more than 188,000 U.S. students studying abroad as of 2021-22 year represents a nearly 13-fold increase from the low of approximately 15,000 study abroad students in the prior year,” Baer said. “This rebound showcases how study abroad is more than halfway back to pre-pandemic levels.”
Study abroad opportunities of all durations increased. Students going abroad during their summer 2022 terms saw the largest growth – an 84,003-student increase from 2020-21’s 8,421 students to 2021-22’s 92,424.
Europe was most students’ destination of choice. During the 2021-2022 school year, 138,007 students traveled and studied in Europe – it was 9,647 the year before – while 19,387 chose Latin America and the Caribbean and 8,892 chose Asia. And most of the students going outside the U.S. were those studying business and management (39,220), followed by social sciences (33,178).
