Roundup: New U.S. president unlikely to affect number of foreign students in U.S.: experts

It's still hard to tell whether Donald Trump's future policies as president will affect the number of foreign students in the United States, but some experts believe that there will not be a big shift.

The number of international students in U.S. colleges and universities reached a record high of more than one million during the 2015-2016 school year, according to a report released this month by the Institute of International Education (IIE) in partnership with the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.

This marks the tenth straight year that IIE reported a growth in the total number of international students in U.S. higher education. In the last decade, this figure has gone up 85 percent.

Now, as America will have a new president, "it'll be interesting to see whether Donald Trump's future policies as president will affect the number of foreign students," the Los Angeles Times reported, referring to a lot of concern from international students.

"I do not think there will be a big shift regarding the number of foreign students enrolling in U.S. colleges," Julia Bulanda, an education and career consultant, told Xinhua on Monday.

Throughout the whole history of IIE's data collection on foreign students in the United States, the numbers of foreign students have been growing despite political shifts, economic problems and natural disasters, the Los Angeles Times quoted Peggy Blumenthal, a senior IIE counselor, as saying.

"The more we can open doors to other cultures for our students, the better off our country and our world will be," IIE President Allan Goodman said in a statement.

According to the new report, China and India are still the leading student source countries, and among the over one million international students in the United States, 31.5 percent were from China.

"There are some Chinese students worried about policy change after Donald Trump takes over the White House," as they worried that "it will be harder to be admitted by U.S. schools, or harder to apply for H-1B (working visa) after graduation," Bulanda said.

The contribution of international students to American research is significant. IIE, a New York-based nonprofit organization that operates to promote international education and education access worldwide, said that more than a third of these international students major in engineering, math or computer science and 14 percent engaged in optional practical training, including many in science, technology, engineering or math professions.

More international students choose to study in California than in any other state. California hosted nearly 150,000 such students in the last school year, making it the top destination for students from abroad, according to IIE.

Four of the top 20 U.S. host institutions that welcomed international students were located in California, with the University of Southern California (USC) ranking second, just behind New York University. Endi