Lehigh's Office of International Affairs has prepared data reports highlighting international students & scholars, education abroad, and fellowship advising at Lehigh University.
In conjunction with the release of the Open Doors 2025 Report on International Educational Exchange, Lehigh's Office of International Affairs has prepared and released three data reports highlighting international students & scholars, education abroad, and fellowship advising at Lehigh University. These reports can be viewed or downloaded below.
INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS AND SCHOLARS
The number of international students in the United States reached its highest level on record in 2024–25, with about 1.2 million students, according to the Open Doors 2024 Report on International Educational Exchange. The total of 1,177,766 international students represents a 6.1% increase over the previous year, driven by continued growth in Optional Practical Training (OPT) participation even as graduate-level enrollment dipped slightly. This marks the highest total number of international students since IIE began tracking this data in 1948. Lehigh University had 967 international students from 87 countries in 2024–25, as well as 158 scholars from 41 countries. Lehigh welcomed 615 international graduate students, a 2.1% increase over the previous year, while the university’s 352 international undergraduate students marked a 10.6% decrease compared to the prior year.
The International Students & Scholars report can be downloaded here. For more information about Lehigh's Office of International Students & Scholars, visit global.lehigh.edu/oiss.
EDUCATION ABROAD
A total of 298,180 U.S. students studied abroad in 2023–24, a 6.2% increase over the previous year. Open Doors study abroad data are reported on a one-year delay, and despite the growth reflected in 2023–24, study abroad figures have not yet returned to pre-pandemic levels. Nationwide, the top destinations were Italy, Spain, the UK, France, Japan, Ireland, Germany, Greece, Australia, and South Korea. Although Europe remains the dominant region, the report notes growing interest in Asia. Japan in particular has seen fast growth as a desired destination, with a 9.1% increase over last year. At Lehigh, the 789 total study abroad experiences for Lehigh students included 268 Lehigh faculty-taught courses, 72 Iacocca International Internship Program experiences, 70 Global Social Impact Fellows, 283 semester, 34 short immersion, 47 external transfer credit, six Lehigh-directed independent experiences, and nine through Lehigh Launch in Chile.
FELLOWSHIP ADVISING
Lehigh’s Office of Fellowship Advising (OFA) works with university students, faculty, staff, and alumni to prepare nationally competitive scholarship and fellowship applications. A total of $2.5 million in awards have been given through OFA’s efforts since 2016, and 250 Lehigh students, faculty, and alumni have won nationally-competitive scholarships since spring 2017. OFA has an overall win rate of 44.1%, and 120 Pell Grant recipients have won Gilman Scholarships since 2016.