Top 20 US Universities That Hosted Highest Number of Int’l Students in 2020

For years now, the US education system remains one of the most popular among students from different countries around the globe. The country keeps its spot as one of the top study destinations for international students, in spite of the Coronavirus pandemic that caused many educational institutions to experience a significant drop in the number of students, especially international ones.

According to the Open Doors Report on International Education Exchange, the US has managed to keep the number of more than one million international students before the pandemic for the fifth successive year.  Data have revealed that there were a total of 1,075,496 students pursuing studies in the US during the 2019/20 academic year.

The same report has, among other things, unfolded the top US institutions welcoming international students during the 2019/20 academic year, including:

1. New York University – hosted 21,093 students

2. Northeastern University, Boston – hosted 17,491 students

3. University of Southern California, Los Angeles – hosted 17,309 students

4. Columbia University, New York – hosted 17,145 students

5.  University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign – hosted 13,962 students

6. Arizona State University, Tempe hosted 13,136 students students

7. University of California – Los Angeles hosted 11,447 students

8. University of California – San Diego hosted 11,272 students

9. Purdue University, West Lafayette hosted 11,173 students

10. Boston University hosted 11,158 students

11. University of California, Berkeley – hosted 10,695 students

12. Pennsylvania State University, University Park -hosted  9,244 students

The majority of these institutions managed to keep the huge numbers of international students from a year earlier, with most of them even marking an increase in numbers.

At New York State University, the number of international students increased by 7.5 percent in the 2019/20 academic year compared to 2018/19.

In 2020, a rise by 8.8 percent was also registered at Northeastern University – Boston marked, Columbia University experienced a 7.8 percent, University of Southern California registered 5.9 percent decrease, whereas the University of Illinois – Urbana-Champaign saw a 3.4 percent in international students numbers compared to 2018/2019 academic year.

Yet, a few of them also experienced a decrease last year compared to 2018, including the  University of Texas – Dallas, which experienced a drop of 6.5 percent in the number of international students, and University of California – Davis, where international students numbers decreased by 1.6 percent.