China has passed India for the first time this decade to become the country that sends the most students to the United States.
According to the annual report of the Institute of International Education (IIE), the number of Chinese students in the US has increased by 30% during the 2009-2010 academic year to about 128,000, or 18.3% of the total international student population in the country.
The report shows the top three majors for Chinese students are business and management, engineering, and physical and life sciences.
According to the US Department of Commerce, international students contributed US$20 billion to the US economy in 2009, as about two-thirds rely primarily upon personal and family funds to pay for their studies.
English People’s Daily.com reports that although most Chinese in the US study in graduate schools, an increasing number of younger Chinese students enroll in undergraduate programs.