Which countries attract the most American students?

By Minh Nga December 13, 2025 | 05:30 am PT

While the United States remains the top global destination for international students, hundreds of thousands of American students are also choosing to study abroad each year, with the vast majority heading to Europe.

According to the Open Doors report released last month by the Institute of International Education (IIE), a total of 298,180 U.S. students studied abroad during the 2023–2024 academic year, an increase of 6.2% from the previous year.

Europe is the overwhelmingly preferred region, accounting for 64% of all U.S. students studying abroad, an increase of 5.8%.

The region is home to seven of the top 10 host countries, led by Italy, which alone hosted approximately 15% of all outbound U.S. students.

In Asia, Japan attracted the most U.S. students, followed by South Korea. Overall, the number of U.S. students increased in most regions globally, with the notable exceptions being the Middle East–North Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa.

Rank	Country	Number of American students in 2023-2024	Percentage share
1	Italy	45,000	15.1
2	Spain	36,900	12.4
3	United Kingdom	36,500	12.2
4	France	16,700	5.6
5	Japan	11,200	3.8
6	Ireland	10,200	3.4
7	Germany	9,700	3.2
8	Greece	6,800	2.3
9	Australia	6,500	2.2
10	South Korea	6,200	2.1

The most popular fields of study among American students abroad are the STEM fields including Agriculture, Engineering, Health Professions, Math or Computer Science, and Physical or Life Sciences, accounting for 27.2%.

This is followed by Business and Management, at nearly 21.7%, and Social Sciences, at around 17.8%.

Despite the increase in overall numbers, the duration of study abroad remains short.

Most U.S. students participate for limited periods, typically a half semester or one semester. Only about 2% choose to study abroad for an entire academic year.

Khuôn viên Đại học Milano, Italy. Ảnh: Università degli Studi di Milano Fanpage

The campus of the University of Milan in Italy. Photo from the university's Facebook page

The Open Doors report also shows that about 1.18 million international students came to the U.S. from more than 200 countries and territories.

This represents a 4.5% increase from the previous academic year and generated $55 billion for the U.S. economy.

Vietnamese students numbered nearly 25,600, up about 16%, remaining among the top five countries of origin. This is the highest level since the 2000–2001 academic year.

IIE, a nonprofit organization focused on U.S. educational exchange programs, publishes Open Doors report annually, with funding from the U.S. Department of State since 1972.