Recently, the Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) released the latest U.S. graduate data.
Due to the global pandemic, the enrollment proportion of international students in the U.S. has declined over the past two years.
Now, the number of international students coming to the U.S. is rebounding. According to data released by CGS, from Fall 2020 to Fall 2021, U.S. universities received a 12% increase in graduate degree applications compared to the previous year, marking the third consecutive year of growth. Applications received for Fall 2021 surpassed the number from Fall 2018, setting a new record.
In stark contrast, from Fall 2019 to Fall 2020, the number of international students first enrolling in U.S. graduate programs dropped by 39%, but from Fall 2020 to Fall 2021, this figure rose by 92%.
This also means that in the post-pandemic era, the enthusiasm for studying in the U.S. is clearly warming up. Globally, the U.S. remains a popular study destination.
2022 U.S. Graduate Student Source Data
Among these 852,006 graduate applications, the proportion of Asian students remains overwhelmingly dominant, reaching 77%. Chinese applicants account for 33%, Indian for 31%, and South Korean for 3%.
China and India have always been major sources of international students. From Fall 2020 to Fall 2021, the number of graduate applications from India increased by 36%, while the figure from China decreased by 16%. This marks the first time in nearly five years that India's application volume has surpassed China's.
From Fall 2020 to Fall 2021, the number of first-time Indian students enrolling in U.S. graduate programs saw explosive growth of 430%; the number of Chinese students first enrolling in U.S. graduate programs increased by 35%.
Changes in U.S. Graduate Application Fields for 2022
Popular Fields
From Fall 2020 to Fall 2021, the distribution of fields applied for by international students did not change significantly. Mathematics & Computer Sciences, Engineering, and Business remain the three most popular fields.
Mathematics & Computer Sciences remains the most popular graduate application field, accounting for 35% of total applications; Engineering graduate applications accounted for 22%, down 2% from the previous year.
Similarly, U.S. universities issued a large number of offers in these three popular fields. Mathematics & Computer Sciences accounted for 33% of total offers, Engineering for 26%, and Business for 16%.
Compared with data from the past five years, from Fall 2020 to Fall 2021, the number of first-time enrollments across all graduate programs increased.
Among them, first-time enrollment in Mathematics & Computer Sciences graduate programs grew by 189%; Engineering grew by 129%.
It is not difficult to see from the chart that other popular fields include: Biological and Agricultural Sciences, Health Sciences, Physical and Earth Sciences, etc.
Other Fields
In the past five years, other fields with significant growth in application numbers include: Public Administration and Services up 43%, Education up 25%, Health Sciences up 17%, and Social and Behavioral Sciences up 12%.
As we all know, the U.S. remains globally leading in academics, research, and career development.
It can be seen that the impact of the pandemic on studying in the U.S. has significantly diminished. In the coming years, competition and difficulty for U.S. graduate program applications will rebound to pre-pandemic levels, or even exceed them.
Students planning to apply for U.S. graduate programs are advised to start preparing early, improve their grades and overall background.
The Fall 2023 application season is in full swing. Students who haven't yet started should really hurry! Wishing everyone success in securing offers from dream schools~
