Yes, dear readers, it’s that time of year again – time for Open Doors 2015!  For the uninitiated – the Open Doors Report on International Educational Exchange is an annual international academic mobility report published by the Institute of International Education with a grant from the US State Department.

Below is a list of top 10 sending countries in the 2014/15 academic year.  Keep in mind that this information is based on a survey distributed last fall (2014) semester, i.e., it’s already a year old. Vietnam (PDF download) had one of the higher year-over-year percentage increases among the top 25 places of origin at 12.9%.  In reality, there were 24,288 Vietnamese students in the US at all levels, nearly 90% in higher education, as of July 2015, according to the August 2015 SEVIS by the Numbers quarterly update (PDF download).  Vietnam actually ranks 7th, having surpassed Taiwan, and is on the verge of overtaking Japan.

TOP 25 PLACES OF ORIGIN OF INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS, 2013/14 – 2014/15
Rank		Place of Origin	2013/14	2014/15	% of Total	% Change
		WORLD TOTAL	886,052	974,926	100.0	10.0
1		China	274,439	304,040	31.2	10.8
2		India	102,673	132,888	13.6	29.4
3		South Korea	68,047	63,710	6.5	-6.4
4		Saudi Arabia	53,919	59,945	6.1	11.2
5		Canada	28,304	27,240	2.8	-3.8
6		Brazil	13,286	23,675	2.4	78.2
7		Taiwan	21,266	20,993	2.2	-1.3
8		Japan	19,334	19,064	2.0	-1.4
9		Vietnam	16,579	18,722	1.9	12.9
10		Mexico	14,779	17,052	1.7	15.4

Fields of Study & Vietnam

Academic Level & Vietnam

As expected, there is a decrease in the percentage of Vietnamese students choosing business/management as their major, a positive development, in my opinion.

There are some notable changes in academic levels:

• a 100% increase in the number of non-degree students, e.g., ESL, certificate programs
• a 26% increase in the number of OPT students

Community Colleges & Vietnamese Students

TOP 25 PLACES OF ORIGIN OF INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS AT ASSOCIATE’S INSTITUTIONS, 2014/15
Rank	Place of Origin	% of Enrollment
1	China	17.7
2	South Korea	8.9
3	Vietnam	8.4

Vietnam remains in 3rd place with 7,698 students enrolled in a community college, most with plans to complete their Bachelor’s degree at a four-year school.  (That’s 8.4% of the total international enrollment at US community colleges last year, which was 91,448.)  That translates into a one-year increase of 15.4%, from 6,509 to 7,698 students.

A note about Brazil’s short-lived ascendancy.  This 11.11.15 ICEF Monitor article details the impact of the current economic crisis in Brazil on overseas study.  Here are the highlights:

• Brazil is in the grip of an economic crisis that has pressured consumer spending and weakened the Brazilian currency
• This in turn has made it much more expensive for Brazilians to travel or study abroad
• The expectation is that the market will decline this year but there are surprising and important areas of demand, particularly in the form of students who are committed to improving their skills for better employment prospects
• Demand is also shifting to more affordable English-speaking destinations, notably Malta, South Africa, and Ireland

MAA