According to the annual Open Doors report by the Institute of International Education (IIE), the number of Vietnamese students studying in the U.S. increased for the 16th consecutive year, as stated by the U.S. Embassy in Vietnam.
In the 2016-2017 academic year, Vietnam continued to rank 6th among countries with the highest number of students studying in the U.S., with 22,438 students, an increase of nearly 5% compared to the previous academic year. Of these, 68% are pursuing undergraduate studies, 15.6% are in graduate programs, 9% are participating in Optional Practical Training (OPT), and the remaining 7.4% are enrolled in non-degree programs.
International students now account for 5.3% of the total student population in the U.S. Engineering, Business and Management, Mathematics, and Computer Science are still the most popular fields of study for international students. The states with the highest number of international students are California, New York, Texas, Massachusetts, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Florida, Ohio, Michigan, and Indiana.
The report also shows that Vietnam is becoming a more familiar destination for American students. In the 2016-17 academic year, Vietnam welcomed more than 1,000 students from the U.S., an increase of 9.8%.
