US international student growth rates unsustainable

By Daniel Guhr. The recent release of the Institute of International Education's 2012 Open Doors data showed another rise in international student enrolments in the United States, reaching 764,495. This figure marks an increase of 5.7% from 2011 (723,277) and nearly a third since 2007 (582,984).
Despite this growth, international students still only account for a small share of students on US campuses – about 3.5% of a total of 20.5 million students enrolled in 2011. Certainly US colleges and universities have plenty of room to grow international enrolments to further internationalise their institutions.
While the enrolment gains in the US look impressive, some context is in order.
From 2000-11, international student enrolments in the US increased far below the growth rates experienced by other leading student destination countries such as Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom. More...