The Institute of International Education (IIE)’s 2025 Open Doors Report, released last November, showed that the United States hosted its highest total number of international students ever in the 2024/25 academic year. This builds on the trends of the 2023/24 academic year, the previous record. However, Optional Practical Training (OPT) was again a major contributor to this milestone, as more international graduates stayed in the US after completing their studies to gain work experience. In fact, international student enrolments stayed flat in 2024/25 versus 2023/24.
Against this backdrop, we’re taking a closer look at the latest US enrolment patterns, including how they differ across undergraduate and graduate study levels. We’ll also explore what the latest shifts suggest for enrolment levels in different fields of study. Together, these insights can help institutions in the US plan their recruitment strategies for 2026 and beyond.
Key Insights at a Glance
- The US hosted nearly 1.2 million international students in 2024/25, including 884,000 student enrolments.1
- The 277,000 new international enrolments in 2024/25 represented a 7% decline over the previous academic year. New undergraduate enrolments were up 5%, while new graduate enrolments fell 15%.
- In 2024/25, over 70% of students from India, Iran, Bangladesh, and Nepal pursued STEM opportunities (including those in OPT).
OPT Attracted Record-High Number of Participants in 2024/25
Nearly 1.2 million international students studied or participated in Optional Practical Training (OPT) in the US in 2024/25. This represents a growth of nearly 5% over the previous academic year:
Though the total number of international students in the US rose 5% year-over-year, that growth was driven by a 21% increase in OPT placements. There were over 294,000 OPT participants in 2024/25, while the 884,000 international enrolments matched the total of the previous year.
The rise in pre- and post-graduation temporary employment demonstrates strong student interest in gaining practical work experience. 88% of respondents to our Fall 2025 Recruitment Partner Pulse Survey cited post-study work opportunities as a student priority when considering where to study. In fact, for the first time ever in our pulse surveys, respondents put post-study work opportunities nearly on par with the long-standing top priority, cost of studying (88% vs. 91%).
This means that, moving forward, the institutions that can demonstrate clear work-integrated learning opportunities and success stories to prospective students will be the ones that differentiate themselves from their competition, both domestically and across the globe.
To learn more about how students are responding to new economic realities and how institutions are facilitating student success beyond the classroom, check out the A More Discerning Student section from our 2026 Trends Report.
New International Enrolment in the US Declines in 2024/25
While OPT growth lifted the overall international student total in 2024/25, new international enrolment moved in the opposite direction. There were about 277,000 new international enrolments across the US in 2024/25, representing a year-over-year decline of 7%:
New enrolments dropped most noticeably at the graduate level, with a year-over-year decline of 15%. US campuses welcomed 25,000 fewer new international graduate students in 2024/25 compared to the previous academic year. This ended a three-year run of year-over-year growth at the graduate level. The non-degree level also saw fewer new enrolments, falling 4% over this period.
Conversely, nearly 99,000 new international students were enrolled at the undergraduate level in 2024/25. This was 5% higher than the previous academic year.
The Student Populations Who Pursued STEM Opportunities in the US the Most in 2024/25
Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) occupations in the US are projected to grow 8% from 2024 to 2034.2 This is nearly triple the projected pace for non-STEM roles. Additionally, STEM roles offered a 2024 median annual wage of about US$104,000, more than double the non-STEM median.
These strong career outcomes continue to make STEM pathways appealing, especially to students from the following populations:
Students from India, Bangladesh, Iran, and Nepal showed the strongest concentration in STEM. In 2024/25, over 70% of students from each country pursued STEM opportunities (including OPT). Large year-over-year swings are less common in the field of study data because OPT is included in these totals. This means the distributions incorporate students who remain in the US after graduation, potentially for up to three years, rather than only enrolments.3
That said, each major student population gravitates toward different fields within STEM to different degrees. For instance, 43% of Indian students participated in math and computer science fields, well ahead of other major student groups. Nepalese students followed, with 30% pursuing these fields.
Nepalese students were also highly interested in physical and life sciences. In 2024/25, 16% of Nepalese students pursued this field. This was again the second-highest share among the US’s largest student populations, behind only Nigerian students (18%). Both countries paired high physical and life sciences participation with relatively strong interest in health. 10% of students from Nepal and Nigeria pursued health-related fields in 2024/25.
Iranian and Bangladeshi students, on the other hand, clustered more heavily in engineering, with 44% and 34% of these student populations pursuing engineering, respectively.
Last year’s 2024 SEVIS by the Numbers report showed that the top three STEM OPT employers in 2024 were Amazon, Google, and Microsoft. Read our full analysis of last year’s SEVIS by the Numbers report to learn how STEM talent has powered the American international education sector.
How US Institutions Can Empower the Next Generation of Global Talent and Remain Competitive on a Global Scale
This year’s Open Doors data reinforces that American academic institutions can’t rely on broad, steady-state assumptions in their recruitment planning. As student priorities continue to shift, institutions benefit most when they use enrolment and field-of-study trends to guide where to focus and how to position programs. Monitoring these changes year over year helps recruitment teams respond earlier and stay competitive in a crowded global market.
Given the continued strong interest in STEM and rising OPT participation, institutions in the US benefit from moving beyond general claims about “career outcomes.” Recruitment materials like program pages should directly connect specific disciplines to work-integrated learning, employer connections, and post-study options. Likewise, institutions can differentiate themselves by illustrating how they uniquely support students’ success inside and outside of the classroom.
These efforts matter because many students continue to weigh destinations through a return-on-investment lens. Clear, program-specific guidance on work experience opportunities and post-study options can help students assess fit, which builds clarity during their decision-making process.
Looking ahead, institutions that monitor enrolment signals early and translate them into more targeted program positioning will be better placed to sustain international recruitment outcomes. In a competitive sector, specificity and consistency in how institutions communicate student success can meaningfully improve outcomes for both institutions and their students.
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FOOTNOTES:
1. All data courtesy of the Institute of International Education (IIE) Open Doors Report.
2. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment in STEM occupations. Data is based on the last modification date of August 28, 2025.
3. While the standard duration of OPT is one year of full-time employment, graduates from eligible STEM programs may receive up to two years of additional post-completion OPT through the STEM OPT extension.
