04 August 2009

Just the Facts

 

Many international students attend the University of California, Berkeley, seen here at the landmark Sather Gate.

Many international students attend the University of California, Berkeley, seen here at the landmark Sather Gate.

Key statistics offer a snapshot of student exchange programs in the United States.

1,046,468: Active nonimmigrant students enrolled in the Student Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) (1)

9,609: Schools in the United States registered with the government to offer programs to foreign students (2)

Leading States for Foreign Exchange Institutions

1,204: California schools participating in the Student Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP)

690: New York schools participating in SEVP

538: Texas schools participating in SEVP

572: Florida schools participating in SEVP

423: Pennsylvania schools participating in SEVP

Leading Schools and Academic Foreign Student Enrollment

11,621: The City University of New York

6,549: University of Southern California

5,770: Purdue University

5,605: Columbia University in the City of New York

5,475: University of Illinois

The U.S. government maintains these detailed data about foreign exchange students through SEVIS, which was launched in 2003. SEVIS is an Internet-based system that serves as the principal data bank for information on the status and whereabouts of foreign nationals participating in academic, training, or exchange programs for the duration of their stay in the United States. SEVIS maintains records on visitors and receives updated information from the institutions sponsoring them, such as change of address or changes in the program of study. Further information is available at http://www.ice.gov/sevis/outreach.htm

SEVIS allows visa-holding students to create user accounts, access their own information, and monitor any inaccuracies. With updates being deployed in 2009 and 2010, SEVIS is to become an entirely paperless process for all government agencies and institutions interacting with the foreign exchange students to share and protect information about their status while in the United States.

(1) The numbers of SEVIS enrollees include students of higher education, family members who travel with them, and students enrolled in vocational and training schools, such as flight training and language school. The SEVIS numbers also include international visitors participating in a professional exchange programs.

(2) This number includes accredited institutions of higher learning, but also large numbers of trade schools, and other non-accredited schools, such as flight schools, beauty academies and language schools.