• Open Doors Project
• Atlas of Student Mobility
• Fall Snapshot Survey
• U.S. Study Abroad Capacity Study

The Open Doors Project

IIE has conducted an annual statistical survey of the internationally mobile student population in the U.S. since 1948, and with support from the Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs since 1972. Known as Open Doors, IIE’s flagship survey, with its associated publication, the Open Doors Report on International Educational Exchange, is the only long-standing, comprehensive information resource on the over half million international students in the U.S., the almost 100,000 international scholars in the U.S., and the over 200,000 U.S. students studying abroad. Since its inception, Open Doors has been instrumental in documenting educational trends, informing public policy discussions on international student visas, and encouraging public and private support for international educational exchange. Based on data collected from over 3,000 regionally accredited U.S. higher education institutions, the Open Doors project consists of the following four inter-related surveys that together offer comprehensive data on international educational exchange from the U.S. perspective:

• International Student Census: An authoritative source of data on new and continuing enrollment trends, places of origin, fields of study, academic level, source of funding, visa status, gender and economic impact of the international student population in the U.S.
• U.S. Study Abroad Survey: Data on the host destinations, fields of study, academic level, source of funding, gender and race/ethnicity of U.S. students studying abroad.
• International Scholars Survey: Documents the substantial academic and cultural contribution of international scholars to American higher education with data on the places of origin, fields of specialization, visa status, and gender of the international scholars teaching and conducting research at U.S. academic institutions.
• Intensive English Programs (IEP) Survey: Data on the number of international students enrolled in intensive English language programs in the U.S., a known pathway toward degree study.

In addition to these four key surveys, special reports such as the Community College Data Resource and the U.S. State Fact Sheets for each U.S. state provide key information for specific groups.

Visit the Open Doors website for more information, including current statistics, trend data, policy analysis, and media coverage.

All Open Doors data available to the public are featured on the website or in the print publication.  Please visit the Custom Reports section if you are interested in commissioning a special analysis or custom data report.

The Atlas of Student Mobility

The Atlas of Student Mobility, or Project Atlas, is an important complement to the Open Doors project. While Open Doors focuses solely on international flows into and out of the U.S., Project Atlas follows the worldwide migration trends of millions of international students, and provides a comprehensive global picture of international student mobility for 16 leading destination countries and enrollment by students from 75 places of origin. Increasingly, policy makers and the international education community are seeking information not just on America’s hosting of international students but on how the “competition” is doing, and how U.S. efforts fit into the global search for academic talent.

Launched in 2001 with the support of the Ford Foundation, Project Atlas is a unique initiative that brings together an international community of global mobility researchers with the intent of collecting, organizing, and disseminating comparable data on internationally mobile students worldwide. The result of this collaboration is a shared online resource that provides timely and comprehensive global mobility data. Project Atlas highlights the truly global aspects of higher education, and sheds light on the emerging world higher education economy. As the numbers of international students continue to grow, so will the complexity of their mobility patterns, and Project Atlas examines these international education patterns in relation to other international flows, and explores national developments such as home country investment in human capital, population growth, level of technological capacity, growth of civil liberty, and increased international connectedness.

Fall Snapshot International Student Enrollment Survey

Each fall, IIE conducts a special online survey of international student enrollments. This survey complements Open Doors by providing a more immediate "snapshot" of international students at U.S. colleges and universities for the current semester. The survey is conducted by IIE in cooperation with the following seven international educational exchange organizations and associations: the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC); American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU); American Council on Education (ACE); Association of American Universities (AAU); Council of Graduate Schools (CGS); NAFSA: Association of International Educators; and National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges (NASULGC). In contrast to Open Doors which provides a statistical profile of international students in the U.S., the snapshot survey asks educators about observed changes in international student enrollment patterns. The snapshot survey is conducted in October of each year and the results are available in November.

U.S. Study Abroad Capacity Policy Research Initiative: Meeting America’s Global Education Challenge

In 2007, IIE launched a new major policy research initiative designed to assess the capacity of U.S. and foreign campuses to prepare and host greatly expanded numbers of U.S. study abroad students. The recent report by the Commission on the Abraham Lincoln Study Abroad Fellowship Program noted how critical it is to America’s competitiveness and national security to provide more students with international experience, and lays out the ambitious goal of sending one million U.S. students abroad each year. This new IIE initiative will offer educators and policymakers focused data and information on current capabilities and future capacity, as well as recommendations for action to maximize resources and pave the way for substantial study abroad growth.

In May 2007, IIE released the first in a series of white papers, Current Trends in U.S. Study Abroad and the Impact of Strategic Diversity Initiatives, which provides a comprehensive look at current trends in study abroad in the U.S., providing a benchmark for future expansion. Click here for more information and upcoming activities or contact policyresearch@iie.org.

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