Nearly 22,000 Vietnamese study in the US

Nearly 22,000 Vietnamese students will study in the US in the 2022-2023 school year, an increase of 5.7% over the previous school year, continuing to be in the top 5 in terms of the number of international students here.

The Open Doors report on international educational exchange by IIE released on the afternoon of November 13 said that in the 2022-2023 school year, the US will have more than one million students (undergraduate) from more than 200 countries and territories, an increase of 11.5% compared to the previous school year. Of these, 21,900 are Vietnamese students.

Compared to last year, the number of Vietnamese students studying abroad increased by nearly 1,200 people, equivalent to 5.7%. Although it has not returned to pre-Covid-19 levels, this is the second consecutive year that Vietnam has been in the world's top 5 in terms of the number of international students in the US.

By level of education, Vietnamese students coming to the US mainly study at universities and colleges with nearly 14,300 people. Next are postgraduate students (masters, doctorates, post-doctorates) with more than 3,760 people. The rest are Vietnamese people in non-degree programs or on 36-month post-graduation internship (OPT).

TT	Level of education	Number of students	Changes compared to the 2021-2022 school year
1	University, College	14,295	2.5%
2	Postgraduate	3,768	4.8%
3	Non-Degree Program	561	30.8%
4	Optional Practical Training (OPT) Program	3,276	19.5%

Overall, Chinese and Indian students still dominate the U.S., accounting for 53 percent of all international students. However, the gap between the two countries is narrowing. Compared to the previous school year, the number of Chinese students decreased slightly, from 290,000 to more than 289,500. However, the number of Indian students increased sharply, from 199,000 to nearly 269,000. The remaining two countries in the top five are South Korea and Canada, respectively.

Of the more than one million international students, 55% were pursuing STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) degrees, up slightly by 1% from the previous academic year. Mathematics and Computer Science; Engineering still attracted the most international students, with 240,000 and 202,000 students respectively.

Vietnamese students studying abroad are no exception to this trend. The percentage of students pursuing STEM fields is 47.6%, up 0.5% compared to last year. In addition, about 24.7% of Vietnamese students choose Business and Management, down 0.9% compared to last year.

TT	Nation	Number of international students in the US	Ratio/Total number of international students	Change from 2021-2022
1	China	289,526	27%	-0.2%
2	India	268,923	25%	35%
3	Korea	43,847	4%	7.6%
4	Canada	27,876	3%	3.2%
5	Vietnam	21,900	2%	5.7%

IIE is a non-profit organization that operates in the field of educational exchange in the United States. The Open Doors Report is conducted annually, sponsored by the US Department of State, and is considered a comprehensive source of information on the situation of international students and scholars coming to the US and the number of American students abroad.