Number of Chinese students in the U.S. 2010/11-2020/21

Colleges and universities in the United States are still a popular study destination for Chinese students, with over 317 thousand choosing to take courses there in the 2020/21 academic year. Although numbers were heavily affected by the coronavirus pandemic, China is still the leading source of international students in the U.S. education market.

The education exodus

Mathematics and computer science courses led the field in terms of what Chinese students were studying in the United States, followed closely by engineering and business & management programs. The vast majority of Chinese students were self-funded, wth the remainder receiving state-funding to complete their overseas studies. Tuition fees can run into the tens of thousands of U.S. dollars, as foreign students usually pay out-of-state tuition fees.

What about the local situation?

Although studying abroad attracts many Chinese students, the country itself boasts the largest state-run education system in the world. With modernization of the national tertiary education system being a top priority for the Chinese government, the country has seen a significant increase in the number of local universities over the last decade. Enrolments in these universities exceeded 32 million in 2020, and a record of nearly eight million students graduated in the same year, indicating that China's education market is still expanding.