The opportunity you can gain by studying in the U.S. is the privilege to meet other students worldwide and make lifelong friendships with students from different countries, making for an overwhelming experience.
As an undergraduate if you have the mind set on studying abroad, you are not alone – the U.S. is the most popular study destination, with a record of 974,900 students in 2015 according to the 2015 Open Doors report, this number of students is likely to reach 1 million in the nearest future, it obviously looks like a lot of people to be admitted, but for your information, you should know that these students will be spread out across 4,500 or so degree-granting institutions (and 9.834 million km).
Which U.S. universities attract the highest numbers of international students? Read on for an overview of the top 10 U.S institutions for the diversity of their student bodies, based on the ‘international students’ indicator of the QS World University Rankings® 2016-2017. This indicator assesses the proportion of international students at each university. Note that only U.S. universities featured in the QS World University Rankings are included in this list.
1. Illinois Institute of Technology
Rated 15th in the world for the proportion of international students (and 401-410* overall)
The top-rated U.S. university for international students is Illinois Institute of Technology, also known as Illinois Tech or IlT, Which receives a perfect score of 100 in the ‘Worldwide students’ indicator of the rankings. Located in the expeditious student city of Chicago, the university has a total enrollment of almost 8,000 students including over 1,000 from splinter groups.
Illinois Institute of Technology graduate school is particularly different with 65% of graduate students coming from abroad and 100 nationalities represented overall in IlT’s student body.
2. Carnegie Mellon University
Rated 24th for the proportion of international students (58th overall)
Achieving a near-perfect score of 99.8 for its proportion of international students, It is also known as (CMU), Carnegie Mellon University is located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and is home to 13,650 students representing 114 countries, with 58% of graduate students coming from outside of the country. As well as having satellite centers in Silicon Valley and Manhattan in the US, CMU was the first institute to open a campus in Australia (in Adelaide) and it also has an undergraduate branch campus in Doha, Qatar.
3. Stevens Institute of Technology
Rated 51st for the proportion of international students (651-700 overall)
The third-highest rated university in the U.S. for international students is Stevens Institute of Technology, which markets itself as ‘the innovation university. Located in Hoboken, New Jersey, the university has a different student population, drawn from over 50 countries worldwide. Its International Student and Scholar Services (ISSS) aims to make it easy for students from other countries by assisting them with official visa forms, as well as offering a cross-cultural exchange scheme.
4. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Rated 65th for the proportion of international students The world’s top university in the QS World University Rankings, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) achieves a strong score for the difference of its students and is also the highest-rated US university in the indicator assessing the proportion of international faculty members. Some 3,289 of MIT’s 11,331 are foreign students, including 42% of graduate students. The university also welcomed 539 exchange, visiting, and special students in 2015-2016. As well as a prestigious education, the university is known for giving admission to students due to their performance irrespective of their ability to pay for tuition and generous financial aid, meaning that any student granted admission will also be sufficiently supported to attend.
5. The New School
Rated 67th for the proportion of international students (601-650 overall) The New School is a private research university in New York City. It was founded in 1919 as The New School for Social Research with an original mission dedicated to academic freedom and intellectual inquiry, with around 32% of its students coming from other countries, and around 116 countries represented, Located in the Greenwich Village area of New York City, The New School has its main focus on the arts, social sciences, and humanities, it’s famous former students include the likes of Marc Jacobs and Bradley Cooper.
6. Northeastern University
Rated 70th for the proportion of international students (joint 361st overall) Northeastern University is a private research university with its main campus in Boston. Established in 1898, the university offers undergraduate and graduate programs on its main campus, located in Boston, Massachusetts, The University has 18,000 undergraduates, of which 3,400 are international students. The university prides itself on having a global outlook. Examples of this in practice include a cooperative education program that integrates classroom study with professional experience on seven continents, and a comprehensive study abroad scheme. Its first international campus was opened in Toronto in the year 2021 and has regional campuses in other places in the US.
7. Columbia University
Rated 89th for the proportion of international students (20th overall) Columbia University is another of the top universities in New York City to have a large number of foreign students, with 32% of its 30,300 students coming from outside the US. Among the global initiatives taking place at the university is the student-led Columbia University Partnership for International Development (CUPID), which aims to enable disciplinary discussion, awareness, and action in the field of multinational development and relief, it is located in upper Manhattan New York, and has its focus on medicine and arts.
8. Rice University
Rated 107th for the proportion of international students (90th overall) Rice University is a comprehensive research university, Located in Houston, Texas. The university indicates that half (3,298 out of 6,623) of its students came from outside the country, with a growing number in recent years. The university is considered to be the most selective university in the US and attracts students with its strong student-faculty ratio (six to one) focused on science programs.
9.California Institute of Technology
Rated 112th for the proportion of international students (5th overall) It is popularly known as (Caltech) Joining its tech school rival, MIT in this list of the most international US universities is the California Institute of Technology, the university has a student population of around 2,255 and also receives a strong score for its high proportion of international faculty members, it has the best student-faculty ratio (three to one) and has the third position in the entire index for this indicator. Located at California Blvd, Pasadena, United States.
10. Georgia Institute of Technology
Georgia Tech Rated 114th for the proportion of international students (71st overall) Concluding our list of the 10 top universities for international student enrolments, more than 3,000 of Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech)’s 20,600 students come from overseas. The university also runs five satellite campuses, including the Georgia-Tech Lorraine campus in Metz, France, as well as international exchange programs in partnership with universities such as the National University of Singapore, it is situated in Atlanta, GA 30332, USA.
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