Liam James Doyle

St. Thomas Remains High in Rankings for Study Abroad and International Students

The Institute of International Education recently released Open Doors report 2021. The report contains information and data from the 2020-21 academic year regarding international students studying in the United States, and data from 2019-20 for U.S. students studying abroad for academic credit.

St. Thomas has the most international students (641) among private universities in Minnesota and remains fourth in the state overall for international enrollment. St. Thomas currently ranks seventh in the nation for undergraduate study abroad participation at doctoral institutions based on the percentage of the student body (with 641 students abroad, up from 13th in the nation in the prior year), and the top in Minnesota.

“One key lesson of the past several years has to be how globally connected we all are, and how important it is for us to understand each other, especially across international borders. I am proud of St Thomas’ global commitments. With travel opening up we are reestablishing our leading study abroad program,” said Associate Vice Provost for Global Learning and Strategy Dr. Tim Lewis. “We had a record year in international undergraduate recruiting this year and a top 10 in the country for students going abroad before the pandemic.”

With 13,095 international students studying in Minnesota for the 2020-21 academic year, the state once again ranked 19th in the nation for its total number of foreign students. The leading places of origin for international students in Minnesota include China, India, South Korea and Nepal; the leading countries at St. Thomas were China, India, Saudi Arabia and Vietnam. It is estimated international students in Minnesota brought in over $345 million in revenue to the state.

Even though total undergraduate international enrollment across the country decreased by 13% last year, St. Thomas saw an increase of 11% from 169 to 187 undergraduate international students. The number of new international undergraduate students in fall 2020 at St. Thomas also increased by 23%, whereas there was a 34% decrease nationally. Despite all obstacles, the international undergraduate enrollment continues to increase in fall 2021, which will be reflected in next year’s Open Doors report.