What do international students study in the United States?

An overwhelming majority of international students who come to the United States for higher education specialize in STEM fields
Dec. 18, 2018

About a million students from other nations come to the United States to enroll in higher-education programs.

More than three-fourths of them have chosen STEM subjects as their major field of study, according to the International Institute of Education's annual Open Doors report.

The numbers from 2016-17 show that the most popular field of study among international students is Physical and Life Sciences—33.7 percent of international students chose that as their major concentration.

Here are the 10 most popular fields of study for international students in 2016-17.

About the Author

Mike Kennedy

Senior Editor

Mike Kennedy, senior editor, has written for AS&U on a wide range of educational issues since 1999.

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