The Economic Impact of International Students Around the World. Presentation by Jason Baumgartner (Indiana University Bloomington), Julie Chambers (Institute of International Education), Robert Gutierrez (Institute of International Education) at the NAFSA 2010 Annual Conference

1. The Economic Impact of International
Students Around the World
Jason Baumgartner
Indiana University Bloomington
Julie Chambers
Institute of International Education
Robert Gutierrez
Institute of International Education
NAFSA 2010 Annual Conference
June 2, 2010; 1:45‐3:00pm
Kansas City, Missouri

2. Presentation Topics
IIE Open Doors Data on U.S. International Educational
Exchange
International Student Economic Impact in the U.S.
Global Student Mobility Trends
Questions and Discussion

3. Open Doors 2009 Introduction
The Institute of International Education
(IIE) is one of the largest and most
experienced higher education exchange
agencies in the world
Open Doors is an annual statistical survey
conducted by IIE since 1948, with support
from the U.S. Department of State since 1972
4 surveys: International Student Census;
U.S. Study Abroad Survey; International
Scholars Survey; and Intensive English
Programs Survey

4. Open Doors International Student Census
Annual survey of U.S. campuses’ international student
enrollments
Respondents: Regionally and nationally accredited U.S.
higher education institutions
Timeframe: 2008/09 enrollments
Definition: non‐immigrant international students in the U.S.
on temporary visas at the postsecondary level

5. Total International Student Enrollment Trends
The number of international students in the U.S. increased 8% in
2008/09 to a record high of 671,616 international students.
700,000
600,000
500,000
400,000
300,000
200,000
100,000
0
58/59
78/79
88/89
08/09
68/69
98/99
53/54
73/74
03/04
63/64
83/84
93/94

6. New International Student Enrollments
New international student enrollment increased 16% to
200,460 in 2008/09, following increases of 10% the
previous two years.
200,460
173,121
157,178 Non‐Degree
142,923
131,946
Graduate
Undergraduate
2004/05 2005/06 2006/07 2007/08 2008/09

7. Places of Origin of International Students

8. Top 10 Places of Origin of International Students
% Change
Rank Place of Origin 2007/08 2008/09 % of Total from 07/08
World Total 623,805 671,616 100.0 7.7
1 India 94,563 103,260 15.4 9.2
2 China 81,127 98,235 14.6 21.1
3 South Korea 69,124 75,065 11.2 8.6
4 Canada 29,051 29,697 4.4 2.2
5 Japan 33,974 29,264 4.4 ‐13.9
6 Taiwan 29,001 28,065 4.2 ‐3.2
7 Mexico 14,837 14,850 2.2 0.1
8 Turkey 12,030 13,263 2.0 10.2
9 Vietnam 8,769 12,823 1.9 46.2
10 Saudi Arabia 9,873 12,661 1.9 28.2

9. Top Five Places of Origin, Recent Trends
India (103,260)
100,000
China (98,235)
80,000
South Korea
(75,065)
60,000
Japan (29,264)
40,000
Canada (29,697)
20,000
00/01 01/02 02/03 03/04 04/05 05/06 06/07 07/08 08/09

10. U.S. Geographical Distribution
The top 5 host states (California, New York, Texas, Massachusetts and Florida)
hosted 43% of international students in 2008/09.

11. Institutional Type
Doctorate institutions host the largest number of international
students (59% of the total).
400,000 Academic Level:
Undergraduate
Graduate
300,000
Non‐Degree/OPT
200,000
100,000
0
Doctorate Master's Baccalaureate Associate's Specialized
Institutions Institutions Institutions Institutions Institutions

12. Top 10 Host Institutions
Rank Institution State Total
1 University of Southern California CA 7,482
2 New York University NY 6,761
3 Columbia University NY 6,685
4 University of Illinois ‐ Urbana‐Champaign IL 6,570
5 Purdue University ‐ Main Campus IN 6,136
6 University of Michigan ‐ Ann Arbor MI 5,790
7 University of Texas ‐ Austin TX 5,703
8 University of California ‐ Los Angeles CA 5,590
9 Boston University MA 5,037
10 Michigan State University MI 4,757
TOP 10 TOTAL (9% of all int’l students): 60,511

13. Fields of Study
39% of international students are studying the fields of Business
& Management and Engineering, the top 2 fields of study.
Bus ines s &
Undec lared 3%
Management
21% Humanities 3%
Engineering
18% Educ ation 3%
Agric ulture 1 %
Phys ic al & Life
Sc ienc es
9%
Other 11%
Soc ial Intens ive
Sc ienc es Englis h
Math & Health 4%
9%
Computer Arts 5%
8% 5%

14. http://opendoors.iienetwork.org

15. NAFSA International Student
Economic Impact for 2008‐09: $17.6 Billion
http://www.nafsa.org/publicpolicy/default.aspx?id=17174

16. NAFSA International Student
Economic Impact: The Algorithm

17. NAFSA International Student
Economic Impact: Enrollment Data
Compute economic impact only for students reported in IIE Open Doors.
Institutions that do not provide information are not represented.
Conduct separate analysis for the undergraduates and graduates, and
then consolidate the result set in the final report.
Students on optional practical training (OPT) are counted in Open Doors,
and included in the enrollment counts on the reports, but they are
exempted from the analysis.
Note: Enrollment reports represent peak enrollment, and not necessarily
enrollment levels throughout the year.

18. NAFSA International Student
Economic Impact: Expense & Funding Data
Tuition & fees and living expenses are derived from Wintergreen Orchid
(formerly from Peterson’s or College Board) data collected on surveys
completed by institutions every year.
Students at institutions reporting extremely low values or zero values for
expenses are estimated to have expenses based on a weighted average
for the institution’s state location and Carnegie type.
Percentage of U.S. funding for a student is based on Open Doors primary
source of funding with the following filters:
– (1) whether a student is an undergraduate or graduate
– (2) the institution type based on Carnegie codes.

19. NAFSA International Student
Economic Impact: Dependent Data
Percentage of married students separately for undergraduates and
graduates based on IIE Open Doors and a 85% probability they are in the
United States.
A 60% probability of a child per couple.
A spouse increases the living expenses by 25% and a child by an
additional 20%.
Dependents living expenses total $434 for 2008‐09 and account for 2.5%
of the overall economic impact.

20. NAFSA International Student
Economic Impact: Top 10 Cities
CITY STATE STUDENTS IMPACT
New York NY 28,471 $880,204,000
Boston / Cambridge MA 21,357 $738,072,000
Los Angeles CA 16,569 $518,500,000
Chicago IL 12,878 $395,321,000
Philadelphia PA 9,646 $314,041,000
Washington D.C. DC 8,485 $304,122,000
San Francisco CA 8,526 $278,850,000
Houston TX 13,014 $272,135,000
Atlanta GA 7,339 $182,193,000
Pittsburgh PA 6,548 $181,979,000
TOTALS: 132,833 $4,065,417,000

21. NAFSA International Student
Economic Impact: Top 10 Congressional Districts
NAME PARTY DISTRICT STUDENTS IMPACT
Michael Capuano Democrat MA – 08 20,604 $705,354,000
Jerrold Nadler Democrat NY – 08 13,605 $461,374,000
Eleanor Norton Democrat DC 8,485 $304,122,000
Henry Waxman Democrat CA – 30 9,339 $303,221,000
Charles Rangel Democrat NY – 15 9,237 $257,979,000
Chaka Fattah Democrat PA – 02 7,485 $254,999,000
Diane Watson Democrat CA – 33 8,196 $242,877,000
Bobby Rush Democrat IL – 01 6,320 $215,012,000
Maurice Hinchey Democrat NY – 22 7,320 $204,667,000
Sheila Jackson Lee Democrat TX – 18 10,143 $204,533,000
TOTALS: 100,734 $3,154,138,000

22. NAFSA International Student
Economic Impact: Currency Comparison

23. NAFSA International Student
Economic Impact: Impact of Currency
According to this analysis the average international student would need
to spend less than 21,000 Euros (E.U.) or less than 18,000 Pounds (U.K) in
order to pay less than the $26,000 impact they bring to the U.S.
The impact of the global financial crisis has resulted in a strengthened
U.S. dollar and a reversal of recent currency trends. This is furthered by
current economic volatility in EU countries such as Greece.

24. NAFSA International Student
Economic Impact: Capacity, Cost, and Community
Capacity: There is a large U.S. capacity as international students comprise less than 4%
of the overall higher education market. International students in Australia, United
Kingdom, and other European countries currently comprise 15% ‐ 20% of the higher
education population.
Cost: Students will consider the value versus the large expense of higher education.
The caliber of the institution and the competitiveness of admissions may help drive up
value for such institutions.
Community: There is an improved perception of the U.S. while recent events in other
countries, such as Australia, have generated some negative perceptions that have
directly impacted the flow of international students to those countries. This reinforces
the value of the cross cultural experience and the impact those experiences may have in
the decision making process for international students.

25. NAFSA International Student
Economic Impact: Questions to Consider
Questions to consider:
Will the U.S. dollar continue to strengthen against other currencies or go back down
when various global economic conditions (i.e. debt problems in EU) improve? What
impact will currency play in the future trends of international student enrollments?
How might currency trends change U.S. students decisions about study abroad?
How will the projected increase of U.S. students entering college further increase the
competitiveness of programs in the U.S. while the currency markets find a new
baseline as the global economy stabilizes?
How might cross cultural experiences influence international enrollment and what role
should universities take to enhance that experience?

26. Global Student Mobility Trends
Robert Gutierrez
Senior Manager of Research and Evaluation
Institute of International Education (IIE)
rgutierrez@iie.org

27. International Student Population Growing
International Students Worldwide,
Selected Years 1995 ‐ 2007
3.5
Number of students
3.0
2.5
(millions)
2.0
1.5
1.0
0.5
0.0
1995 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007
Over 3 million students are being By 2025, almost 8 million
educated outside their home students may be studying
countries, a 59% increase since internationally.
2000.
Sources: Indicator C3, OECD Education at a Glance 2007, 2009
UNESCO Global Education Digest 2009

28. Host Country Shares of International Students
2001 2008
Worldwide: 2 million students Worldwide: 3 million students
U.S.: 547,000 students U.S.: 624,000 students
U.S. U.K.
U.K.
21% 13%
11%
U.S.
28% Germany France
9% 9%
France 7%
Germany
Australia 8%
4%
Japan 3%
Australia
Spain 2% All others 7%
All others Belgium 28% China
34% 2%
Canada 6%
Japan
4% 4%
Source: Atlas of Student Mobility (data period: 2001, 2008)

29. How “international” are the leading host countries’ campuses?
The 671,616 international students in the U.S. comprise less than 4%
of total U.S. higher education enrollment, with only 172 institutions
hosting 57% of all international students in the U.S.
Top Countries' International Enrollment as a
Percentage of Total Higher Education Enrollment, 2007‐08
22.5%
16.3%
12.0% 12.0%
3.5%
0.8%
U.S. U.K. France Germany Australia China

30. Setting Targets: The Emerging Hosts
Category Target Current Status
China 300,000 by 2020 195,000 (Atlas, 2008)
Japan 300,000 by 2020 123,000 (Atlas, 2008)
Jordan 100,000 by 2020 21,500 (UNESCO, 2006)
Malaysia 100,000 by 2010 24,400 (UNESCO, 2006)
Singapore 100,000 by 2015 80,000+ (Singapore Education)

31. The Atlas of Student Mobility: Introduction
What is Atlas: a collaborative network of
organizations sharing mobility data
Began in 2003; a recognized need for better
understanding of data in a cross-country context
Updated on a rolling basis based on each country’s
collection cycle
Data reported include: country of origin, total and
international student enrollment population, leading
destinations for outbound students
Other resources, partner publications, Global
Education in the News archives

32. Online at
Atlas of Student Mobility atlas.iienetwork.org

33. Country Profile Page: CHINA

34. Economic impact
• Australia
– International education activity
contributed A$17.2 billion in export
income to the Australian economy in
2008-09.
– The higher education sector generated
$9.5 billion in export income (57.1% of
total on-shore earnings).
– Australia receives the most int’l. students
from China, India, Malaysia, Singapore
and other SE Asian countries
Source:
AEI. Export Income to Australia from Education Services, 2008-09 from
http://www.aei.gov.au/AEI/PublicationsAndResearch/Snapshots/20091110_pdf.pdf

35. Economic impact
• The UK
– According to British Council,
international students contribute more
than £8.5 billion to the UK economy.
Source: British Council, Annual Report 2007, p.6, from
http://www.britishcouncil.org/annual-report/PDF/AnnualReport_2007-08.pdf.
• Canada
– Has attracted a greater share of
international students over the past
decade, whose net contribution to the
economy is worth C$5 billion.
Source: Katz, E. (2009). Imagine, Cooperative Branding! International
Educator Regional Spotlight 2009. Washington, DC: NAFSA: Association of
International Educators.

36. Economic impact
• Japan
– Of incoming international students in Japan in
2007, 89.7 percent were privately financed
international students, 8.5 percent were
Japanese government sponsored students, and
1.8 percent were foreign government sponsored
students. Overall, 91.5 percent of incoming
international students in 2007 brought
funding from international sources to Japan.
– The number of privately financed incoming
international students in Japan has more than
doubled from 41,390 in 1998 to 106,297 in 2007,
while the number of foreign government
sponsored incoming international students has
steadily increased in the same period, from
1,585 in 1998 to 2,181 in 2007.
Source: JASSO, Support Programs for International Students, p.1, from
http://www.jasso.go.jp/about_jasso/documents/outline08_04.pdf.

37. Economic impact
• New Zealand
– The economic impact of export
education in New Zealand excluding
offshore education earnings is
approximately $2.1 billion for 2007/08.
This is an increase from earlier figures
for estimating economic impact of
export education that include offshore
education earnings. These figures were
$545 million in 1999 and $1.3 billion in
2001.
Source: The Economic Impact of Export Education, p. 1, from
http://www.educationcounts.govt.nz/__data/assets/pdf_file/0007/35368/
EconomicImpactReport08.pdf)

38. www.iie.org
Five Ways to Connect with IIE
Information on IIE programs & services
facebook.com/IIEglobal
Latest updates on IIE news & events
twitter.com/IIEglobal
Quick alerts on international education news & trends
www.iienetwork.org
Resources for international education professionals
opendoors.iienetwork.org
Data on academic mobility to and from the U.S.

39. Questions and Discussion
Jason Baumgartner
Indiana University Bloomington
jlbaumga@indiana.edu
Julie Chambers
Institute of International Education
jchambers@iie.org
Robert Gutierrez
Institute of International Education
rgutierrez@iie.org
NAFSA 2010 Annual Conference
June 2, 2010; 1:45‐3:00pm
Kansas City, Missouri