The number of foreign students at American universities increased 5% over the 1997-98 school year. There are now over 480,000 foreign students studying at American schools. Despite this rise, the number of foreign students attending American universities as a percent of all students studying abroad has dropped from 40 to 30 percent. This is largely because schools in other countries, especially Europe, have significantly lower tuition rates.

The long-term decrease in the number of foreign students is a concern to the USIA, which plans to develop a plan to keep the U.S. in the position of world leader in attracting foreign students.

New York University leads the nation with the most foreign students - almost 5000. New York City has the most foreign students of all U.S. cities, with almost 30,000. California leads all states with the highest number of foreign students, followed by New York, Texas, Massachusetts, and Florida.

Most foreign students in the U.S. are from Asia, accounting for almost 150,000 of the foreign student population. More than two-thirds of the foreign students receive most of their funding from family and other personal sources, and more than three-fourths receive all of their funding from sources outside the United States.