More international students are studying in US universities than before. In 2024, 1.5 million overseas students were studying in the US. Of the 15 lakh international students studying in US universities, nearly 4.2 lakh are Indian students. Of the 15 lakh international students studying in US universities, nearly 4.2 lakh are Indian students. The number of Indian students in the US is almost 25 % of the total foreign student population in the US.

According to recently released U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s data for the calendar year 2024, the total number of active F-1 and M-1 student records in SEVIS was 15,82,808 in calendar year 2024, an increase of 5.3 percent from calendar year 2023. These foreign students were from more than 229 countries and territories.

A total of 1.58 million students were enrolled in the SEVIS records in calendar year 2024 compared to 15,03,649 in calendar year 2023.

Asia had the largest number of active foreign student records in the United States, with 1,134,953 foreign students, accounting for 71.7 percent of the foreign student population. The 422,335 foreign student records from India represented an increase of 11.8 percent compared to 2023, while the 329,541 foreign student records from China represented a small decrease of 0.25 percent compared to 2023.

Each year, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement releases the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) annual report detailing trends in the foreign student population studying in the United States.

The data in the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS), a web-based system that the Department of Homeland Security uses to maintain and manage information on foreign students and exchange visitors who enter the United States temporarily and solely for the purpose of pursuing a full course of study or participating in a U.S. Department of State-designated program, is used to analyze the trend.

California schools enrolled the largest number of foreign students at 237,763, while New York schools enrolled the second largest number of foreign students at 172,522.

Roughly 91 percent of all foreign students were enrolled in an SEVP-certified associate, bachelor’s, master’s, or doctoral program. Specifically, foreign students in the United States pursued 1,434,748 degrees in higher education, which is an increase of nearly 82,000 from the calendar year 2023. Bachelor’s or master’s degrees were the most popular, accounting for 79 percent of higher education degrees sought.

There was a decrease in the number of SEVP-certified schools eligible to enroll foreign students, with 7,234 SEVP-certified schools in 2024 compared to 7,683 schools in 2023.

In 2024, the total number of unique foreign student SEVIS records with work authorization through a form of practical training was 381,140. This number removes duplicate counts for foreign students who may have had more than one work authorization issued in 2024.

Foreign students may participate in more than one type of training program in the course of a year and thus may be counted multiple times. The number of foreign students approved for each type of practical training without removing duplicates was 194,554 through (optional practical training) OPT, 95,384 through STEM OPT (science, technology, engineering, and math optional practical training) and 130,586 through CPT (curricular practical training).

Amazon, Google and Microsoft were the top 3 employers for foreign students participating in STEM OPT in calendar year 2024.