The chart from the National Center of Education Statistics shows that the number of international students in the U.S. from 1954 to 2015, while the table offers the detail information of the percentage tendency of international students and international students in U.S. higher education total from 2004 to 2015. In addition, the table includes the number of total international student and U.S. high education.   As can be seen, the number of international students grows steadily from 1954 to 2003. However, the numbers suffers a drop during 2004/05. It has been said that the drop comes from the 911 events. Thus U.S. government banned the number of admitted student VISA in following two years. After short-term decay period, the numbers of international students increases sharply after 2007. It is almost certain that the boost economy of China stimulate more and more students to pursue higher education degree abroad. In consequence, in 2014/15, the number of internationals students in the U.S. increases by 10.0%, the highest percent among recent ten years.  

Mingda Xiao, Tianyu Dai, Chih-hung Ko

 

Data Commentary:

The chart "INTERNATIONAL STUDENT TRENDS" illustrates the trend of the number of international students in the U.S. from 1953 to 2016, while the table presents detailed information on the proportion of international students in total population of the U.S. higher education in the past decade. As indicated by the chart, the number of international students seems to have experienced a remarkable increase since 1953, yet the population suffered a decline from 2001 to 2006. This decrease may be attributed to the occurrence of the 9/11 attack, which contributes to a tightened policy of the U.S. government on visa-issuing in the following years. The influx of international students has been catalyzed since 2006. This dramatic increase may result from the economic growth of developing countries such as China, encouraging students from these countries to pursue higher education in the U.S. In consequence, the diversity of the university communities in the U.S. has been considerably improved over past decades, and more international students tend to have the access to the educational resources of the U.S. in the future.