Latitudes: International Enrollments Surpass a Pre-Covid High

The number of international students in the United States hit an all-time high in the 2023-24 academic year, but the driver of the growth wasn’t new students coming to campus. Instead, the increase was fueled by recent graduates staying in the country to work. The annual Open Doors census, released today, tallied 1,126,690 foreign students, driven by a 22-percent surge in participants in optional practical training, or OPT. Enrollments of new students, however, rose just 0.1 percent. The previous high, 1,095,299, was in 2018-19.