New Report from IIE Looks at International Students at U.S. High Schools

A new report published this week by the Institute of International Education, "Charting New Pathways to Higher Education: International Secondary Students in the United States," provides comprehensive analysis on the more than 73,000 inbound international students who come to the United States for high school and what the trends mean for higher education enrollments and recruitment. The findings on high school student mobility complement the data that IIE releases each year on international college and university students in the United States in the annual Open Doors report; both reports are produced with the support of the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.

The new IIE report looks closely at where the students come from and where they study—with breakdowns by U.S. state and types of schools. It provides narrative analysis and data tables that compare specific numbers and trends for international students at the secondary level with those for international students in higher education in the United States.

"While secondary school students from around the world have been coming to the United States on high school exchange programs for many years, IIE’s new analysis shows that the number of students who enroll directly in U.S. schools to earn a U.S. high school diploma now significantly outnumbers those who are here on exchanges," said IIE’s Deputy Vice President for Research and Evaluation, Rajika Bhandari. "This is a remarkable finding, and one which has implications for U.S. higher education."

The report was the subject of media coverage yesterday in Time Magazine, USA Today, Inside Higher Education, Chronicle of Higher Education, The PIE News, and Education Week.