HOUSTON: 70 Percent of international students studying engineering in the U.S. are from China and India, according to a new report.

"SEVIS by the Numbers," a quarterly report of international students studying in the U.S., was released yesterday by the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP), part of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

As of July 8, 9,66,333 international students were enrolled in nearly 9,000 U.S. schools using an F (academic) or M (vocational) visa.

This marks a nearly 5 percent decrease from April, primarily due to graduation rates, but an 8 percent increase when compared to July 2013.

The July report included a special section that focuses on China.

According to it, 75 percent of all international students were from Asia, with 28 percent from China.

As of July 8, there were 2,70,596 international students from China studying in the U.S. The majority of these students studied in California, New York, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Illinois.

The report further said that nearly 3,50,000 international students pursued STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) coursework in July.

69 percent of international students studying STEM fields were male. 85 percent of international students studying STEM coursework are from Asia.

70 percent of international students studying engineering are from China and India. More international students study engineering than any other STEM field of study, it said.

South Korea and Vietnam had the greatest percentage decrease in students studying in the U.S. at 8 percent and 7percent, respectively, when compared to April figures.

The top 10 countries of citizenship for international students included: China, India, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Canada, Japan, Taiwan, Vietnam, Mexico and Brazil.

The University of Southern California, Purdue University, the University of Illinois, New York University and Columbia University rank one through five among U.S. schools with the most international students.

The report is based on data from the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS), a web-based system that includes information on international students, exchange visitors and their dependents while they are in the U.S.

A school must be SEVP-certified before it can enroll international students.

SEVP monitors approximately one million international students pursuing academic or vocational studies (F and M visa holders) in the U.S. and their dependents. It also certifies schools and programmes that enroll these students.