Today’s edition of USA Today contains a story on the new count of international students studying in the United States. You may find the story HERE and the original source of the findings HERE. Last year, I wrote about the record number of students studying in this country. We now have a new record. 
Consider the following:
- There has been a 6% increase among international students in the 2011-12 academic year.
- The number of international students has now reached 764,495.
- Much of this growth comes from increases in the number of Chinese students studying at the undergraduate level.
- The total enrollment of Chinese students increased by 23%, with those at the undergraduate level by 31%.
- A 50% increase occurred in the number of students from Saudi Arabia.
- California hosted more than 100,000 international students for the first time this year.
- Pennsylvania, Florida, and Indiana had the largest percent increases in such students.
- The following are the schools with the greatest number of international students: University of Southern California (largest number), University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, New York University, Purdue University, and Columbia University.
- New York continues to be the top metro area for students.
Check out the leading places of origin of international students studying in the United States: HERE.
Once again, we are reminded that the peoples of the world are on the move.
They are the students in our communities.
To most of us. . . they remain the strangers next door.
Here are some of my previous posts on college students:
International Students: Removing the Tradition of Geography
Students and Global Evangelization
Diaspora Missiology Series: Students
(image source: iStockphoto, Microsoft)