India has surpassed China as the leading source of international students in the United States for the first time in nearly 15 years, according to the latest annual survey by the Institute of International Education released on Monday, reported the South China Morning Post.

During the 2023-’24 academic year, 331,602 Indian students studied in the United States, as against 277,398 Chinese students, according to the survey sponsored by the United States Department of State.

The number of Indian students in the United States increased by 23% compared to the previous academic year, while the number of Chinese students decreased by 4%, it said.

Chinese students had been the largest foreign group in the United States since the 2009-’10 academic year, but their numbers have steadily declined since 2019-’20, when there were 372,532 Chinese students in the country.

The number of Indian students in the United States has steadily grown since the 2020-’21 academic year, with the number in 2023-’24 about twice that of 2020-’21.

New data from the Institute of International Education reveals that 50.4% of Chinese students in the United States are studying STEM – science, technology, engineering and mathematics – subjects, while nearly 73% of Indian students are enrolled in these fields, consistent with last year.

The number of Chinese students pursuing undergraduate studies in the United States declined by 12.8% in the 2023-’24 academic year, reaching 87,551. However, China still has more undergraduate students in the United States than any other country, including India.

Chinese students cited factors such as geopolitical tensions, safety concerns, high costs, uncertain job prospects in the US and the rising quality of Chinese universities as reasons for not studying abroad or choosing other countries over the United States, the South China Morning Post reported.

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