"The number of international students enrolled at US high schools more than doubled from 2004 to 2016, to reach 81,981 students, according to a recent federally funded study by the Institute of International Education, a nonprofit focused on education across borders. * * * Students from China make up about 42% of international students studying in US high schools, the study says.
"About 4% of the international students attended US public high schools on F-1 visas in 2016, according to the Institute of International Education. Unlike for private schools, those visas extend a maximum of 12 months for public schools, and federal law requires that international students attending US public high schools under such visas pay full tuition, normally ranging between $3,000 and $10,000, according to the State Department. Private schools set their own rates.
"Besides the more widely used, longer-term F-1 visas, other students use the J-1 visa, mainly for shorter-term cultural-exchange programs.