Recruiting MENA Students: Open Doors Trends
Shannon Harrison
Higher Education Services Institute of International Education
EducationUSA MENA Conference Doha, Qatar April 15, 2011
What is Open Doors?
Annual survey of international exchange activity in the U.S. since 1948 (with U.S. State Department support since 1972) Only publicly available source of detailed data on: - international students in the U.S. - outbound U.S. study abroad - other topics of interest Print report & online tables: http://www.iie.org/opendoors - State sheets, country fact sheets - NAFSA economic impact analysis - Community College Data Resource
International Students in the U.S.
Annual survey of 3,000 accredited higher education institutions who report on the international students enrolled at their institutions Topics covered: total enrollment, academic level, place of origin, field of study, personal characteristics, funding Timeframe: data for the 2009/10 academic year is reported in Open Doors 2010 Definition: non-immigrant international students in the U.S. on temporary visas at the postsecondary level Locator report data is also drawn from this survey
Total Enrollment, 2009/10
International student enrollment in the U.S. increased 3% in 2009/10 to a record high of 690,923 international students.
700,000 600,000 500,000 400,000 300,000 200,000 100,000 0
64/65 99/00 54/55 59/60 69/70 74/75 84/85 79/80 94/95 04/05 89/90 09/10
Top Places of Origin Worldwide, 2009/10
Saudi Arabia is the top place of origin in the Middle East & North Africa & is ranked 7th overall
The MENA Region in Open Doors
Middle East: Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Palestinian Territories, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, United Arab Emirates, Yemen North Africa: Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia
International Students from MENA: Trends
35,000 30,000 25,000 20,000 15,000 10,000 5,000 0
99/00 04/05 01/02 02/03 08/09 00/01 05/06 07/08 03/04 06/07 09/10
Middle East
North Africa
Top MENA Places of Origin: Trends
16,000
Saudi Arabia 15,810
12,000
8,000
Iran 4,731
4,000
Israel 2,778
0
99/00 08/09 02/03 00/01 05/06 01/02 03/04 07/08 06/07 04/05 09/10
Academic Level of MENA Students, 2009/10
Middle East North Africa
Undergraduate 45%
Graduate 36%
Undergraduate 32%
Graduate 49%
Non-degree 15% OPT 4%
OPT 5%
Non-degree 14%
Fields of Study, 2009/10
Field of Study Business and Management Engineering Physical and Life Sciences Math and Computer Science Social Sciences Fine and Applied Arts Health Professions Intensive English Education Humanities Undeclared Other TOTAL* Overall 21.1% 18.4% 8.9% 8.8% 8.7% 5.2% 4.6% 3.8% 2.6% 2.6% 2.7% 12.6% 100.0% Saudi Arabia 22.1% 24.0% 4.1% 9.6% 2.5% 1.2% 4.2% 21.4% 2.0% 0.8% 5.3% 2.8% 100.0%
The U.S. Study Abroad Survey
Who is counted? U.S. citizens and permanent residents who received academic credit at their home institution for study abroad Respondents: Accredited U.S. higher education institutions awarding credit for study abroad Annual survey of study abroad activity at U.S. campuses (study abroad during the 2008/09 academic year, including summer 2009, with credit awarded upon return to campus in 2009/10)
U.S. Study Abroad, 2008/09
260,327 U.S. students received academic credit for study abroad in 2008/09, a slight decline of 0.8% over the previous year.
300,000
200,000
100,000
0
89/90 91/92 93/94 94/95 95/96 96/97 97/98 98/99 99/00 00/01 01/02 02/03 03/04 04/05 05/06 06/07 07/08 08/09
U.S. Study Abroad: Regions, 2008/09
Europe hosts the largest percentage of students Largest growth to Africa (up 16%) and the Middle East (up 9%)
Latin America 15.4%
Asia 11.4% Europe 54.5% Multiple 6.0% Oceania 5.4% Middle East 1.4% Africa 5.3%
U.S. Study Abroad: Destinations, 2008/09
Egypt is the top study abroad destination in North Africa
Israel is the top destination in the Middle East
Top Study Abroad Destinations: MENA, 2008/09
94% of U.S. students studying abroad in the Middle East and North Africa go to one of the top 5 destinations.
All others: Jordan: 404 483 Israel: 1,958 students Morocco: 865
UAE: 955 Egypt: 1,781
Top MENA Study Abroad Destinations: Trends
4,000
3,000
2,000
Israel 1,958 Egypt 1,781
1,000
United Arab Emirates 955
03/04
05/06
04/05
06/07
07/08
08/09
00/01
98/99
99/00
01/02
02/03
US-MENA Exchange Balance: Trends
40,000
MENA Students in the U.S. in 2009/10: 38,738
30,000
20,000
10,000
U.S. Study Abroad to MENA in 2008/09: 6,446 students
03/04 04/05 06/07 08/09 00/01 07/08 99/00 02/03 05/06 09/10 01/02
Open Doors online: www.iie.org/opendoors
iie.org/opendoors Data on academic mobility to and from the U.S. fulbright.state.gov Information on Fulbright student and scholar programs iie.org Information on IIE programs & services facebook.com/IIEglobal Latest updates on IIE news & events twitter.com/IIEglobal Quick alerts on international education news & trends iienetwork.org Resources for international education professionals
