SEVIS vs. Open Doors: An Update on Vietnamese Enrollment in the USA

17:07 17/11/2023

Even when I was country director of the Institute of International Education (IIE) in Vietnam (from 2005-09) I couldn’t understand the excitement about the annual release of the latest Open Doors Report. My plea to switch from what is essentially “old news” to the use of real-time data, i.e., SEVIS (Student and Exchange Visitor Information System) updates fell on deaf ears.

Even when I was country director of the Institute of International Education (IIE) in Vietnam (from 2005-09) I couldn’t understand the excitement about the annual release of the latest Open Doors Report. My plea to switch from what is essentially “old news” to the use of real-time data, i.e., SEVIS (Student and Exchange Visitor Information System) updates fell on deaf ears. The reason is probably related to self-interest: IIE receives funding from the US State Department to compile and issue the annual report, the latest incarnation of which was released yesterday morning, US East Coast time. But I digress…

While the SEVIS updates do not contain as much detailed information, e.g., fields of study, leading institutions, and primary source of funding, they are up to date and include enrollment by state. For example, in the 2023 Open Doors Report, Vietnam ranked 5th among sending countries with 21,900 young Vietnamese studying in the US Another drawback to OD data is that it’s limited to higher education in general and those colleges and universities that choose to respond in particular. Think of it as an impressionistic snapshot.

A glance at the October 2023 SEVIS update reveals that there were 26,158 Vietnamese studying in the US at the beginning of the current academic/school year at all levels, mostly higher education. That’s the highest number since September 2020, when the number was 25,824. Here’s the breakdown by level and in pie chart form below:

High (boarding and day) schools: 2,164

Language training: 931

Community colleges: 3,417

Four-year colleges and universities: 13,601

Master’s: 3,142

Ph.D.: 2,128

There were increases across the board, another indication of the ongoing post-COVID recovery. The number of Vietnamese enrolled in higher education institutions is 85%. Among those, the split between undergraduate and graduate programs is 76% and 24%, respectively, a gap that has been narrowing in recent years. The shift to four-year institutions and growing interest in graduate programs continues.

Based on the latest SEVIS update, Vietnam ranks 6th among places of origin after India (338,008), China (265,076), South Korea (48,155), Brazil (32,074), and Canada (34,224).

Hanoi Office

2 Le Quy Don St., Hai Ba Trung Dist.

Tel: +8424 3938 8455

Hotline: +84936 701 696

Ho Chi Minh City Office

22 Tran Quy Khoach St., Tan Dinh Ward, Dist.1

Tel: +8428 3848 2628

Hotline: +84966 703 162