International student enrollment jumped 18 percent last year across Maine’s colleges and universities, part of a nationwide post-pandemic rebound.
A record 1.1 million international students were enrolled in the U.S. for the 2023-2024 school year.
Just over 2,007 of those were studying in Maine.
That’s according to new data released in November by Open Doors, a federally sponsored group that has been tracking international enrollment for decades.
International enrollment at the University of Maine is up about 25 percent compared with 2020, international programs director Orlina Boteva said.
“A lot of people in international education considered this a response to pent up demands during the pandemic, when many students couldn’t access U.S. higher education and visa processing was very limited,” she said.
Boteva said coming off that rebound, enrollment numbers this fall are leveling off. She said the top countries of origin include Canada, Ghana and India.
“We have 79 countries represented this fall,” Boteva said. “And so the rest of the countries, we have much smaller communities, but you know, a few students from all corners of the world are at the University of Maine.”
UMaine was the top destination for international students in Maine last year. Colby College in Waterville and Northeastern University’s Roux Institute in Portland rounded out the top three.
The report also finds Maine’s international students contributed more than $80 million to the state’s economy.
Despite the enrollment jump, Maine still has one of the lowest numbers of international students in the country.
This article appears through a media partnership with Maine Public.
