An Education USA Fair in Hanoi (Source: US Embassy Hanoi)The report for the 2016-2017 academic year (AY) shows thatVietnam remains the sixth leading country of origin for all internationalstudents in the United States, with 22,438 students, up 1,035 students sincelast AY 2015-16, a nearly 5 percent increase. The data shows that 1,078,822international students came to the United States in the 2016-2017 AY, a 3.4percent increase over last year. Internationalstudents now make up 5.3 percent of all higher education students in the UnitedStates, up slightly from 5.2 percent last year.
Of the 22,438 Vietnamese students in the United States, 68percent were undergraduates, 15.6 percent were graduate level students, 9percent enrolled in Optional Practical Training (OPT), and the remaining 7.4percent were pursuing non-degree programs.
Engineering, Business and Management, and Math and ComputerScience remain the top selected fields of study by international students inAY2016-17. Math and Computer Sciencewere the fastest growing fields of study with a positive change of 18 percentfrom AY 2015-16. The top 10 states forinternational students include California, New York, Texas, Massachusetts,Illinois, Pennsylvania, Florida, Ohio, Michigan, and Indiana.
The data also revealed that Vietnam is becoming a morepopular destination for American students. In AY2016-17, Vietnam welcomed 1,012 students from the United States, anincrease of 9.8 percent.
Coming on the heels of President Trump’s visit, this datademonstrates the increasingly strong ties between the United States andVietnam.
As President Trump noted in hisspeech at the APEC CEO Summit, “Vietnamese students rank among the beststudents in the world. And that is veryimpressive.” Education remains acornerstone of the United States - Vietnam bilateral relationship, and theUnited States will continue to promote opportunities for Vietnamese students tostudy in the United States through EducationUSA and the American Centers inHanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. -VNA
VNA
