WASHINGTON, Nov. 13 (Xinhua) -- The number of total international students enrolled in U.S. higher education institutions remained steady at 564,766 in 2005/06,, within a fraction of a percent of the previous year's totals, according to a report published here on Monday.

    Open Doors 2006, the annual report on international academic mobility published by the Institute of International Education (IIE), said that this marks the seventh year in a row that America has hosted more than half a million foreign students, with a peak of 586,323 three years ago followed by declines of 2.4 percent and1.3 percent in the past two years.

    The new report shows total international student enrollments that are virtually flat compared to the previous year, along with a rise in new international enrollments for 2005/06, suggesting that international enrollments have stabilized and are poised to rebound.

    For the fifth consecutive year, the University of Southern California remains the U.S. campus with the largest international student enrollment, with 6,881 international students.

    Asia remains the largest sending region, accounting for 58 percent of total U.S. international enrollments. India is the leading place of origin for international students with 76,503 students in the United States in 2005/06, followed by China with 62,582 students.

    The most popular fields of study for international students in 2005/06 were Business and Management (18 percent of total), Engineering (16 percent) and Physical and Life Sciences (9 percent), followed closely by Social Sciences (8 percent) and Mathematics and Computer Sciences (8 percent).

    International students contribute approximately 13.5 billion dollars to the U.S. economy, through their expenditure on tuition and living expenses. Department of Commerce data describe U.S higher education as the country's fifth largest service sector export, as these students bring money into the national economy and provide revenue to their host states for living expenses.