Britain remains the most popular destination for US students studying abroad, but it is losing its stranglehold as Italy, France and Spain see numbers rise, it emerged today.
As part of its annual Open Doors study, the Institute of International Education found that more than 32,000 Americans had enrolled in UK universities this year.
However, despite maintaining the top choice for US students, this year's enrolments were down 0.5%, while enrolments at institutions in Italy were up 13.4% and in Spain up 3.6%.
The study also found that for the first time since the September 11 terrorist attacks, enrolments by foreign students at US institutions have stabilised.
The study, published today, suggests that efforts by the US government to make the student visa process more efficient and transparent have stemmed the fall in international student enrolment. The decline had been blamed partly on visa restrictions introduced after September 11.
The number of foreign students enrolling at US colleges had dropped for the first time since the 1970s.
The executive vice-president of the institute, Peggy Blumenthal, said: "I think everyone is relieved to see that the declines of the past few years have levelled out, and we're seeing a bump up in new students.
"It's going to take a while for the new cohort to work its way through the system, but we're going to see increases."
Ms Blumenthal said she was encouraged by the large percentage increases to countries such as India, China and Argentina.
She said: "The large numbers are still going to the traditional sites, but the growth [in other places] says to me that people are seeing a professional advantage to having spent time in India or China."
"I think anytime you can get anyone out of the United States and out of their own culture, it's an important and powerful learning experience."