A total of 332,000 Indian students studied in the United States in the 2023-2024 academic year, according to the latest annual survey data released Thursday by the Institute of International Education, an association sponsored by the U.S. State Department, the number of Chinese students is 277,000. Compared with the previous academic year, Indian students increased by 23% and Chinese students decreased by 4% . Public opinion is concerned that the number of Chinese students in the United States has decreased for the fourth year in a row.
According to Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post, Chinese students have long been the largest group of foreign students in the United States. In the 2019-20 academic year, 373,000 Chinese students studied in the United States. But since then, the number of Chinese students has declined year by year, and in the 2023-20242024 was overtaken by the Indians for the first time in 15 years.
The number of Chinese students taking undergraduate courses in the US fell 12.8 per cent to 87,000 in the 2023-24 academic year, according to the survey. The number of Chinese graduate students studying in the US also fell to 122,000, down 2.6 per cent from the previous academic year.
“The number of Chinese students studying abroad continues to decline, and this is not a short-term phenomenon,” Zhang Jiadong, a professor at the Center for American Studies at Fudan University, told the global times on the 19th, the decline in the number of Chinese students in the United States has been affected by many factors. Zhang Jiadong believes that US restrictions on Chinese students studying in some sensitive majors have led to an exclusion effect, and this policy exclusivity has affected the admission of new students, it even has an impact on the continued education of a very small number of current students.
In 2020, the State Department revoked visas for more than 1,000 Chinese citizens to suspend the entry of students and researchers deemed to be a“Security risk,” foreign media said. The situation has not improved over time. Over the past year, the South China Morning Post said, a growing number of Chinese students and academics have feared being stopped or deported after arriving at the US border.
According to Zhang, the exclusion effect has a further chilling effect, making many Chinese students and parents worried about their future prospects and discouraging them from studying in the US.
Tan Nuo, who majored in Energy Science and engineering at a Beijing University, told the global times that the main reason for not wanting to apply to an American University was professional restrictions. On the one hand, she is worried that her major will not be able to successfully obtain an admission permit and visa. On the other hand, she is also concerned that she may face the possibility of not being able to return to the United States to continue her studies once she returns home.
In addition to visas, students expressed their“Adaptation” to campus security and culture, according to an article published on the website of the Council on foreign relations on Monday titled“Understanding the experience of Chinese graduate students in the United States.” And how to deal with concerns such as discussions on us and Chinese political issues.
“The most important consideration is security,” Guo Jinxi, who is applying to study in Australia, told the global times. “I feel that there are a lot of social conflicts in the United States, and I am worried that I will encounter anti-china incidents.”. He also said that the United States graduate school conditions are relatively high, more difficult to prepare.
Despite the decline in numbers, the data show that the United States remains the top destination for Chinese students studying abroad. In an interview with the South China Morning Post, Marianne Craven of the State Department said Chinese students were “Very popular” in the US. She added that the US government was making“Concerted efforts” to attract Chinese students, such as opening a new student counselling and recruitment centre in Wuhan this year.
“Graduate students from China play an unusually important role in U.S. international relations,” the Council on Foreign Relations said, hundreds of thousands of Chinese studying in the US form the backbone of“Personal diplomacy” between the two countries. The article suggested that U.S. policymakers could change visa rules to make Chinese students more flexible, and that universities should do more to help international students prepare for life in the United States.