This month, the annual editions of two of the most prominent publications dedicated to international student and scholar mobility – the Open Doors and the Wissenschaft weltoffen – were released. The first publication is the result of a longstanding collaboration between IIE and the US Department of State Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, and it celebrated this year it’s 75th edition. The second is the result of a solid partnership between DAAD and DZHW.  

The Open Doors 2024 Report on International Educational Exchange, organised as an interactive website with key data in downloadable format, announced an all-time high in the enrolment of international students at US colleges and universities of 1.126.690 students for the academic year 2023/24. This represented a 7% increase compared to the previous academic year. Of these, 883.908 were students enrolled in study programmes, while the remaining 242.782 were international students who stayed in the United States to gain practical work experience through the Optional Practical Training (OPT) programme. In total, some 298.705 were new entrant international students in 2023/24.  

In relative terms, international students represented about 6% of the total US student population in higher education, contributing with more than USD 50 billion to the US economy in 2023 (cf. the US Department of Commerce). More than half (56%) of international students across academic levels pursued STEM fields of study. 

In terms of countries of origin, India made a comeback as the top home country for the first time since 2009, with 331.602 Indian students studying in the US in 2023/24 (a 23% increase from the prior year), followed by Chinese students – 277.398 students (a 4% decline compared to the previous year). Together, students from the two countries make for over half of the international students in the US. 

At the same time, during the 2022/23 academic year, 280.716 students from the US studied abroad for academic credit (i.e. 49% more than one year earlier). Italy, the United Kingdom, Spain, and France remained their leading study destinations, with nearly half (45%) of all students studying in these top four destinations. 

In parallel, the 2024 edition of Wissenschaft weltoffen similarly showed that the number of international students in Germany continued to rise to 379.900 (i.e. an increase of 3% percent compared to the previous year). International students thus represented almost 13% of the total student body. The increase in the number of new students from abroad was particularly noteworthy: 114.700 international students (a new record as well) began their studies in Germany  in the 2022 academic year. 

The most important countries of origin for international students were likewise India (around 49.000 students) and China (around 38.700 students). Turkey continued to gain importance as a country of origin and was in third place for the first time with around 18.100 students, followed by Austria (15.400) and Iran (15.200). Syria, which has been one of the five most important countries of origin since 2019, was in sixth place (13.400). 

At the same time, number of German students abroad remained at just under 138.000 in 2021 (i.e. a slight decline of 2% over the past five years, while, the number has quadrupled since 1991 and doubled again since 2000). The most popular destination countries for German students continued to be neighbouring countries Austria (36.100), the Netherlands (24.400) and Switzerland (12.400), all numbers having increased. In contrast, the number of German students in the United Kingdom has continued to fall post Brexit (from approx. 15.300 in 2018 to 11.100 in 2021), due to the associated high tuition fees for foreign students. 

The report also includes a detailed chapter on global student mobility flows. 

Last but not least, Germany is the second most important host country for international scientists after the US. With over 75.000 foreign researchers at universities and public research institutions, Germany overtook the United Kingdom in 2021 and further strengthened its position as an attractive science destination. Almost 80% of international scientists work at universities in Germany – including approx. 4.000 professors – with the remaining 20% at non-university research institutions. Most international scientists came from India (6.700), China (5.900) and Italy (5.800).