As number of Chinese students in US keeps falling, Indians move to top of list

Shift in rankings comes as US officials signal a preference for Indians in certain fields because of national security concerns.

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The number of Chinese studying in the US has steadily declined since the 2019-20 academic year. Photo: AP

Published: 1:01pm, 18 Nov 2024Updated: 11:30pm, 18 Nov 2024

India has overtaken China as the top source for international students in the US for the first time in about 15 years, according to new data released on Monday.

A total of 331,602 Indians studied in the US during the 2023-24 school year, compared with 277,398 Chinese, according to the latest annual survey by the Institute of International Education (IIE), a report sponsored by the US State Department. Indian students saw a 23 per cent increase from the previous academic year, while Chinese students saw a 4 per cent decrease.

Chinese students had been the largest foreign group since the 2009-10 school year, but their numbers have steadily declined from 2019-20 onward. That academic year, there were 372,532 Chinese studying in the US.

Meanwhile, Indian students have seen a steady growth in numbers since the 2020-21 academic year, with the total for 2023-24 about twice as large as it was then.

The shift in rankings, in line with student visa data from the Department of Homeland Security, comes amid heightened anxiety from Chinese nationals in the US after Donald Trump’s election to the presidency. Trump’s first term saw numerous restrictions on travel and immigration, including a presidential proclamation to limit the entry of graduate students and researchers from China.

It also comes as American government officials signal a preference for Indians over Chinese in certain fields because of national security concerns. In June, US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell said he would like to see more Chinese students coming “to study the humanities and social sciences, not particle physics”.