International students have become a much larger component of overall student enrollment trends at America’s universities. In 1980, only 2.6% of all college students were from other countries. That has more than doubled to 5.4% in 2017, the latest year for which is data available. Additionally, the countries that are sending their students to be educated in the U.S. have changed over time as well. The Middle Eastern and North African region comprised more than 28% of all international students in 1980. That has fallen to 8.3% in 2017. Meanwhile, China has grown their share of foreign students from less than 1% almost 50 years ago, to about one-third of all international students today. Notably, India has also grown their share, moving from 3% in 1980 to almost 18% in 2017.
