TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The number of Taiwanese studying in the United States has increased for five years running, according to the 2020 Open Doors Report mentioned by the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Tuesday (Nov. 17).

During the 2019-2020 academic year, a total of 23,724 Taiwanese students were enrolled at U.S. colleges and universities, or 1.5 percent more than the previous year. Taiwan was listed as the seventh-largest source of foreign students in the U.S. for the sixth consecutive year, behind China, India, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Canada, and Vietnam.

The proportion of graduate students from Taiwan dropped slightly, down to 39.3 percent of all Taiwanese students in the U.S—a decrease of 0.4 percent. Meanwhile, the number of undergraduates went up by 1.7 percent to reach 31 percent.

The report noted much more significant shifts in the proportion of Taiwanese students attending Optional Practical Training (OPT) programs, rising 7.9 percent to reach 23.2 percent, and in those enrolled in non-degree programs, plunging 8.3 percent to 6.4 percent.

As AIT noted, international studies were a two-way exchange, with the number of Americans crossing the Pacific to study in Taiwan also rising. Their number surged by 48.2 percent to reach 1,270 in the 2018-2019 academic year, only the second time in history that their number exceeded 1,000.

The annual Open Doors Report on International Educational Exchange was released on Monday (Nov. 16) by the State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and the Institute of International Education.