India overtakes China in sending most students to US

International student enrollment in 2022 showed a substantial increase with more students coming from all continents

As India sent more students to the US in 2022 in comparison to 2021, while China sent fewer students, the two nations made Asia the most popular continent of origin of international students.

Comparable to the drop from calendar year 2020 to 2021, India sent 64,300 more students in 2022 compared to 2021, while China sent 24,796 fewer students, according to official data.

Read: Record 200,000 Indian students chose US for higher studies (November 16, 2022)

All continents saw an overall increase in the number of students coming to the United States last year, according to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)’s Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) annual report for 2022.

International student enrollment in the United States in 2022 showed a substantial increase from calendar year 2021 with F-1 and M-1 students coming from every continent in the world other than Antarctica, and from more than 227 countries and territories.

The total number of SEVIS records for active F-1 and M- 1 students was 1,362,157 in calendar year 2022, an increase of 10.1% from calendar year 2021 and the largest number of records since calendar year 2019, according to the report.

While this increase is significant, these figures remain below pre-pandemic numbers, which were 1,523,758 in calendar year 2019, the report stated.

Read: US remains top choice for Indian students for study abroad (November 16, 2021)

All four regions in the United States saw an increase in international student records from 2021 to 2022, with respective increases ranging from 8 to 11%.

In 2022, California hosted 225,173 international students, the largest percentage of international students (16.5%) of any US state.

The number of international students enrolled at kindergarten through grade 12 (K- 12) schools increased 7.8% from 2021 to 2022 (+3,887).

No K-12 schools hosted more than 700 international students in calendar year 2022, similar to calendar year 2021.

There were 117,301 pre- and post-completion optional practical training (OPT) students with both an employment authorization document (EAD) and who reported working for an employer in calendar year 2022, compared to 115,651 in calendar year 2021 — a 1.4% increase.

Read: Indian students heading to the US rose in 2022: Report (May 2, 2023)

A total of six SEVP-certified schools each enrolled more than 15,000 international students, an increase of two schools from 2021.

In calendar year 2022, 7,683 SEVP-certified schools were eligible to enroll international students, a decrease of 400 schools from 2021 (8,038 schools).

There were 276,723 active exchange visitors in the United States in 2022 compared to 240,479 active exchange visitors in 2021 — a 15% increase, according to the report.