The number of Vietnamese students in the US in the 2012-2013 academicyear increased by 3.4 percent year-on-year, to 16,098, according to anOpen Doors Report on International Educational Exchange released by theUS International Institute of Education on November 11.

This is the eighth highest number among countries having students in the US .

Of the total Vietnamese students, nearly 70 percent are studying for bachelor degrees.

Accordingto the report, the number of international students at US colleges anduniversities increased by seven percent to a record high of 819,644students in the 2012-13 academic year.

In 2012/13, 55,000more international students enrolled in US higher education comparedto 2011/12, the report said, adding that there are now 40 percent moreinternational students studying at US colleges and universities than adecade ago.

The international students accounted for 4percent of the total 21-million student enrollment at the graduate andundergraduate levels, according to the report.

Studentsfrom the top three places of origin - China, India, and the Republic ofKorea - now represent 49 percent of the total number of internationalstudents in the US, with the number from China increasing by 21 percentto 235,000 compared to the previous school year.

The international students contributed more than 24 billion USD to the US economy.

The report also said that in the 2012-13 academic year, 283,332 USstudents studied abroad for academic credit, an increase of threepercent.-VNA