Misc

Where Do International Students in the U.S. Come From?

Published

2 years ago

September 1, 2023

Ehsan Soltani

Featured Creator

Article/Editing:

Bruno Venditti

International Students in the U.S.

Where Do International Students in the U.S. Come From?

The proportion of international students in U.S. higher education institutions has increased steadily, from 1.5% of the country’s total students in the 1960s to 5.5% in the early 2020s.

Using 2022 data from the International Education Exchange (IIE), this visualization from Ehsan Soltani breaks down where these students come from.

The International Student Population

The United States has always attracted students seeking quality education at its many world-class universities and opportunities in the country’s job market.

After a drop in recent years due to COVID-19 restrictions, American institutions registered a 3.8% increase in international student participation in 2022.

There were 948,519 international students at U.S. colleges and universities last year.

Asian students represent 75% of the total, with Chinese (30%) and Indians (21%) adding up to over half the count. Oceania is the place of origin with the fewest international students enrolled in the U.S., making up only 0.6% of the total.

Place of Origin	1950	1970	1990	2020	2022
Oceania	198	2,077	4,010	7,473	5,994
Africa	901	7,607	24,570	48,679	49,308
Europe	5,569	18,524	46,040	78,321	72,604
Americas	10,406	38,406	66,680	106,196	104,982
India	1,359	11,329	26,240	193,124	199,182
China	-	19	33,390	372,532	290,086
Rest of Asia	7,707	52,963	185,810	269,164	226,351

According to Open Doors, for the first time in a decade, there were more graduate students (41%) than undergraduates (36%) studying in the United States in 2022.

Institutional Type	Number of Students (2022)
Doctorate-granting Universities	738,555
Master's Colleges and Universities	105,680
Baccalaureate Colleges	35,569
Associate's Colleges	49,099
Special Focus Institutions	19,616
Total	948,519

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, many colleges and universities have started to offer online courses. Still, the vast majority of students attended classes in person last year.

A Billionaire Business

International students continue to be a priority for the U.S. higher education sector, contributing $32 billion to the country’s economy in 2022.

With the demographic decline in U.S. domestic higher education enrollment, many colleges and universities are strategically focusing on international students.

According to IIE, 89% of U.S. colleges and universities indicated that 2023/24 applications are up or have stayed the same as the previous year.

This article was published as a part of Visual Capitalist's Creator Program, which features data-driven visuals from some of our favorite Creators around the world.

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Public Opinion

Ranked: U.S. Presidents’ Approval Ratings After 100 Days (1953-Today)

Trump’s approval rating first-quarter approval of 44% marks one of the weakest starts to a presidential term in modern history.

Published

6 hours ago

May 11, 2025

Kayla Zhu

How Does Trump’s Approval Rating Compare to Past Presidents?

This was originally posted on our Voronoi app. Download the app for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.

Donald Trump is kicking off his second term with relatively low public support, showing little sign of the typical post-election boost.

This graphic visualizes the approval ratings of recent U.S. presidents in their first 100 days in office.

Approval ratings are based on the latest April Gallup poll of presidential approval starting on or before April 29th of each year. Ratings for Lyndon B. Johnson and Gerald Ford were not available.

Both of Trump’s first and second terms are visualized because there was a break between them, unlike other presidents who served one or two consecutive terms.

Trump’s Second Term is Off to a Cold Start

Below, we show the approval ratings of recent U.S. presidents in their first 100 days in office.

Year	President	100-Day Approval Rating (%)
1961	Kennedy	81
1953	Eisenhower	74
1981	Reagan	67
2009	Obama	63
1977	Carter	64
2001	G.W. Bush	61
1969	Nixon	62
1989	G.H.W. Bush	58
2021	Biden	57
1993	Clinton	55
2025	Trump (2nd term)	44
2017	Trump (1st term)	40

Donald Trump began his second term with an approval rating of 47% in January, dipping to 44% by April—marking one of the weakest starts to a presidential term in modern history.

This is only slightly higher than the 40% approval rating he held during the first 100 days of his first term, the lowest ever recorded for a newly elected modern U.S. president.

By contrast, most of Trump’s predecessors benefited from a “honeymoon period,” with early approval ratings well above 50%.

The average first-quarter approval rating for presidents elected between 1952 and 2020 is 60%, according to Gallup, with John F. Kennedy leading the pack at 81%.

According to Gallup, a majority of Americans said they have either “only a little” (11%) or almost no (44%) confidence in the president to do the right thing for the economy.

The U.S. economy stumbled out of the gate in the beginning of Trump’s second term, with GDP projected to shrink by 0.3% in Q1 2025—the first quarterly decline since early 2022.

The U.S. stock market has also seen major volatility amid tariff announcements and rollbacks, falling 21% from its peak in February.

Learn More on the Voronoi App

To learn more about approval ratings of various world leaders, check out this graphic that visualizes the approval ratings of leaders in 24 major countries around the world based on January data.