EDUCATION: Foreign Students Flock Back to U.S

The 2008/2009 academic year marked the largest increase - eight percent – in the number of international students attending U.S. colleges and universities since the 1980/1981 academic year, according to a report released Monday by the Institute of International Education (IIE).
While the ranks of international students in the U.S. are increasing, so to are the numbers of U.S. students choosing to study abroad.
U.S. students choosing to study abroad increased by 8.5 percent to 262,416 in the 2007/08 academic year with a noticeable increase in students choosing to go to "less traditional" locales, particularly in the developing world.
Destinations experiencing the biggest increase in U.S. students studying abroad include China, Ireland, Austria and India, with increases of about 20 percent each, and Costa Rica, Japan, Argentina and South Africa, up nearly15 percent each.
"Open Doors 2009: International Students in the United States" also finds that the number of new international students - those enrolling for the first time at a U.S. college or university - increased by 16 percent, which followed consecutive increases of 10 percent in the past two years.
IPS News