10 US universities with the most international students

Ranked 65^th for proportion of international students (1^st overall)

The world’s top university in the QS World University Rankings, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) achieves a strong score for the diversity of its students, and is also the highest-ranked US university in the indicator assessing the proportion of international faculty members. Some 3,289 of MIT’s 11,331 students are international, including 42% of graduate students. The university also welcomed 539 exchange, visiting and special students in 2015-2016. As well as a prestigious education, the university is known for its need-blind policy and generous financial aid, meaning that any student granted admission will also be sufficiently supported to attend.

Ranked 67^th for proportion of international students (601-650 overall)

With around 32% of its students coming from overseas, and around 116 countries represented, The New School was named the most international university in the US in the U.S. News & World Report 2014, and is now second in that list. Located in the Greenwich Village area of New York City, The New School focuses mainly on the arts, social sciences and humanities, and its famous former students include the likes of Bradley Cooper and Marc Jacobs.

Ranked 70^th for proportion of international students (joint 361^st overall)

Located in Boston, Massachusetts, Northeastern University has 18,000 undergraduates, of which 3,400 are international. The university prides itself on having a global outlook. Examples of this in practice include a cooperative education program that integrates classroom study with professional experience on seven continents, and a comprehensive study abroad program. Northeastern also opened its first international campus in Toronto this year, and has regional campuses elsewhere in the US, including Silicon Valley.

Ranked 89^th for proportion of international students (20^th overall)

Columbia University is another of the top universities in New York City to have a large number of overseas students, with 32% of its 30,300 students coming from outside the US. Among the global initiatives taking place at the university is the student-led Columbia University Partnership for International Development (CUPID), which aims to enable multidisciplinary discussion, awareness and action in the field of multinational development and relief.

Ranked 107^th for proportion of international students (90^th overall)

Moving on to Houston, Texas, and the most recent figures from Rice University indicate that almost half (3,298 out of 6,623) of its students came from abroad, with a growing number in recent years. Rice is considered to be the most selective institution in the state and attracts students with its strong student-faculty ratio (six to one), its high level of research for a relatively small university, and its applied science programs.  

Ranked 112^th for proportion of international students (5^th overall)

Joining its tech school rival, MIT in this list of the most international US universities is the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), which has a student population of only around 2,255, and also receives a strong score for its high proportion of international faculty members. It has a very good student-faculty ratio (three to one) and achieves third place in the entire index for this indicator.

Ranked 114^th for proportion of international students (71^st overall)

Concluding our list of the 10 top universities for overseas student enrolments, more than 3,000 of Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech)’s 20,600 students come from outside the US. The university also runs five satellite campuses, including the Georgia-Tech Lorraine campus in Metz, France, as well as international exchange programs in partnership with universities such as the National University of Singapore.

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