The Open Doors report which provides data on international students in the US was recently released. As per the report, the number of international students in the US fell by over 15% in 2020-21 and reached the lowest since 2014-15. Among the Indian students, 44% were on OPT in 2020-21, the greatest ever share of OPT students. The Open Doors Report on International Education Exchange is a definitive annual survey which provides comprehensive information and data on the international students studying in the United States of America (USA). The report also provides data on places of origin, sources of financial support, fields of study, host institutions, academic level, and rates of growth of the international student population in the USA, as well as on the economic impact of international students on the state where they study and the country in general. The data from the report is used by US Embassies, the Departments of State, Commerce, and Education, and other federal, state, and local organizations for policy decisions. Recently, the report for 2021 was released. The number of international students in the US is lowest since 2014-15 As per the latest report for the academic year 2020-21, the number of international students in the US is the lowest since 2014-15. While each of the years between 2015-16 to 2019-20 recorded more than a million international students in the US, the number in 2020-21 fell to 9.14 lakh because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Compared to the previous academic year 2019-20 when the number of international students was 10.75 lakhs, there has been a fall of 15%. The year 2018-19 recorded the all-time highest number of international students in the US and that number has decreased for two years in a row now. 7 out of 10 international students in the US are from Asia Students from Asia continue to account for the lion’s share of international students in the US. The share of students from Asia has increased from 66.1% in 2014-15 to 70.6% in 2020-21, the highest since 2015-16. During this period, the share of students from Europe and the Middle East & North Africa has declined. While the share of students from Europe dropped from 8.8% to 7.4%, the share of students from the Middle East and North Africa has dropped from 10.4% to 6.3%. More than 50% of the international students in the US from India & China alone Since 2014-15, the top 25 places of origin of international students in the US account for an average of 83% of all international students each year. All these 25 countries recorded a drop in the number of students in 2020-21 as compared to 2019-20. The percentage decline for these countries ranges from 3.3% to 32.9%. China is the place of origin for the greatest number of international students in the US. Every year, since 2014-15, more than 3 lakh students in the US are from China. From 31%, the share of students from China has increased to 35% in 2018-19 and 2019-20, despite the 14.8% decline in the number of students in 2020-21. India is the place of origin for the second greatest number of international students in the US. In 2018-19, more than 2 lakh students were from India which has declined since then- by 4.4% in 2019-20 and by 13.2% in 2020-21. Along with China, the students from both the countries accounted for 45% of all international students in 2014-15 which increased to 53% in 2020-21. 12 countries were the places of origin for more than 10,000 students each, including India and China. The trend in the number of students from these 12 countries is indicated in the following chart. 1 in 2 international students in the US are pursuing STEM courses In terms of the field of the international students in the US, nearly 21% of the international students in the US were pursuing engineering-related courses in 2020-21, followed by nearly 20% who were pursuing Math & Computer Science and 16% for business and management courses. More than 50% of the international students were pursuing STEM-related courses in 2020-21. More than three-quarters of the Indian students in the US are pursuing STEM courses Among Indian students in the US, the greatest demand is for mathematics and computer science, followed by engineering like the trend in the previous years. More than 68% of the Indian students had opted for either of these two fields of study. More than 75% of the Indian students in the US had opted for STEM courses. Except for Engineering, Math & Computer Science, the share of Indian students pursuing other major courses is much less than the share of all international students pursuing that course.