According to the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), international students are those who travel to a country different from their own for the purpose of tertiary study. However the definition of "international student" varies in each country in accordance to their own national education system. Below are several definitions of international students;
Annually around 750,000 Chinese and 400,000 Indian students apply to overseas higher education institutions, This mobility is largely driven by rapidly increasing wealth which funds foreign travel and study. Much of the increase in international students in the U.S. during 2013–2014 was fueled by undergraduate students from China, the report's authors found. The number of Chinese students increased to 31 percent of all international students in the U.S. – the highest concentration the top country of origin has had since IIE began producing the report in 1948.