No Passport Required

It may come as a surprise to some that a growing number of international recruiters are forgoing passports for rental cars. Capitalizing on the significant growth in international enrollment at U.S. secondary schools since 2013, many institutions are turning their recruitment sights on this valuable and cost-effective source of international students.

Growth of International Student Populations in U.S. High Schools

Traditionally, international students attended U.S. high schools through one-year J-1 exchange programs and returned home afterward to complete their studies. While J-1 enrollment has remained stable, the number of international students on F-1 visas studying at U.S. high schools has quadrupled since 2004 and the growth has been particularly sharp in recent years—jumping 27 percent between 2013 and 2015. At present, there are approximately 60,000 such students, and the majority come from China, Korea, and Vietnam. This trend is the result of a timely intersection between the interests of private U.S. high schools and middle-class families across parts of East Asia.

The growth of charter schools and the 2008 recession, among other factors, triggered a downward enrollment trend in private schools across the United States. A need for a new source of talented and financially capable students led secondary schools to focus on international recruitment. For their part, families in maturing markets such as China and Vietnam were growing frustrated with the limited number of local secondary schools capable of preparing students for entrance into top U.S. universities. Rather than settle for conditional admission, language school referrals, or offers from lesser-known