The Chronicle of Higher Education reports:

The story, once again, is China. Thousands of mainland Chinese students in pursuit of an American education helped drive up international enrollments at colleges across the United States last fall, according to the latest "Open Doors" report from the Institute of International Education.

Double-digit growth from China, primarily at the undergraduate level, along with a steady uptick in Saudi Arabian students are largely responsible for the increase in international enrollments to 764,495, a 5.7-percent rise over the year before.

These drivers are so significant that for the first time in 11 years there are more international undergraduate than graduate students in the United States.

"That's likely to be a game changer," says Allan E. Goodman, the institute's president. Undergraduates not only stay longer, he noted, but have more impact on campus culture, both inside the classroom and out.

In all, the total number of international students in the United States grew faster in 2011 than it did in 2010 or 2009, as did the number of first-time students—a 6.5-percent increase—which is perhaps a more accurate measure of long-term interest in American education.

Read more: http://chronicle.com/article/China-Continues-to-Drive/135700/?cid=gn&utm_source=gn&utm_medium=en