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EAST ASIA TOPS IN FOREIGN STUDENTS

tudents are the fourth largest source of U.S. foreign exchange earnings. 460,000 foreign students studied in the U.S. in 1998. The top five sources were Asian nations.
     Japan topped the list with 49,000 students. China was a close second with 47,000. Corea came in a surprisingly close third with 46,000. It's may come as little surprise that India, a nation of 950 million with an English-language heritage and a passion for higher education, came in fourth with 34,000. Another big surprise was the fifth place provider of foreign students -- Taiwan which has a population of only 24 million but sent 31,000 students.
     Together Asia and the Pacific sent over 70% of the 460,000 foreign students who studied in U.S. colleges in 1998, providing an estimated $8 billion in foreign exchange for the U.S. economy. In addition, an estimated 120,000 foreign students studying in secondary schools contributed another $2 billion, for a total of $10 billion. Only aerospace, defense and tourism generated more foreign exchange earnings for the U.S.
     The figures for 1998 are in keeping with a pattern established during the 70s when the large influx of Asian students educated in the U.S. returned to found the hi-tech industries that are now the backbone of the most advanced East Asian economies.
     It goes without saying that these foreign student numbers do not include the 640,000 Asian Americans studying in U.S. universities.