Nearly 1 million international students now in U.S. colleges: report

Almost a million international students were currently studying at colleges and universities across the United States, a new report said on Monday.

According to latest data from the 2015 Open Doors Report, an annual survey by the U.S. Institute of International Education, the number of international students at U.S. colleges and universities rose to a record high of 974,926 in the 2014-15 academic year.

The growth rate was 10 percent compared to data of last year, the highest rate of growth in 35 years, the report said.

While China continued to remain the top country of origin of international students in the United States, with 304,040 Chinese students currently studying at U.S. colleges and universities, the growth rate of Chinese students was outpaced by that of Indian students, said the report.

Currently, there were a record high of 132,888 students from India studying in the United States, increasing by 29.4 percent compared to a growth rate of 10.8 percent for the Chinese students.

There were also large increases in the number of students from Brazil, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, said the report, attributing the rise to heavy investment by the three governments to develop a "globally competent workforce".

Meanwhile, International students' spending across the country contributed more than $30 billion to the U.S. economy in 2014, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce. Enditem