From Applications to Aspirations - Insights from International Students Studying in the U.S. - Duolingo/College Pulse Study

Aug 29, 2026

Uploaded by Sage

A Duolingo/College Pulse survey examines why international students choose to study in the United States and which factors shape their experience. The study finds that academic quality and university reputation are top priorities, with discovery influenced strongly by friends, family, and online networks. It highlights cross-application behavior to other countries, rising interest in post-graduation staying pathways, and growing reliance on agents and consultants. The report also details the rising awareness and adoption of the Duolingo English Test (DET) among applicants.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages23

Reading Time58 min

AccessFree to download

Executive Summary

Purpose and key findings

Drivers of university choice

Methodology

Sampling methodology

Margin of error

Highlights

University Discovery

From Applications to Aspirations: Insights from International Students studying in the U.S. October 2025 A Duolingo/College Pulse Study ABOUT US EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1 3 5 7 METHODOLOGY HIGHLIGHTS About Us About Us DUOLINGO Duolingo is the most popular mobile learning platform and the most downloaded education app worldwide. The app makes learning new languages, math, music, and chess fun with bite-sized lessons that feel like playing a game. The company's mission is to develop the best education in the world and make it universally available. Duolingo offers lessons in music, math, chess, and language with over 250 total language courses from Spanish, French, German, and Japanese to Navajo and Yiddish. In addition, Duolingo offers the Duolingo English Test (DET)—an innovative, online English proficiency exam accepted by thousands of institutions around the world. The DET provides a convenient, affordable, and accessible way for learners to certify their English skills anytime, anywhere. For more information, [visit](visit www.duolingo.com)[ ](visit www.duolingo.com)[www.duolingo.com](visit www.duolingo.com). COLLEGE PULSE College Pulse is a survey research and analytics company dedicated to understanding the attitudes, preferences, and behaviors of today’s college students. College Pulse offers custom data-driven marketing and research solutions, utilizing its unique College Student Panel™ that includes over 1 million college students and recent alumni from more than 1 ,500 two-and four-year colleges and universities in all 50 states and beyond. For more information, visit collegepulse.com or College Pulse's official X account @CollegeInsights. Methodology Sampling Methodology This survey was designed and conducted by College Pulse between March 20th, 2025 and August 4th, 2025. Surveys were completed among a sample of 1 ,048 international students from Brazil, China, Nepal, Nigeria, India, Vietnam, South Korea, Bangladesh, and more. The sample was drawn from College Pulse’s College Student Panel™ that includes over 1 million verified students representing more than 1 ,500 different colleges and universities. Panel members are recruited by a number of methods to help ensure diversity in the panel population, including web advertising, permission-based email campaigns, and partnerships with university organizations. A post-stratification adjustment was applied based on demographic distributions of the undergraduate responses. Adjustments are informed by analogous national datasets and publicly available demographic information. The post-stratification weight rebalanced the sample based on key benchmarks such as country of origin. The sample weighting was accomplished using an adjustment process that simultaneously balances the distributions of all variables, ensuring that the weighted sample reflects the target population as accurately as possible. The margin of error for this survey ranges from +/ -3 to 6 percentage points. Margins of error are typically calculated on probabilitybased samples and are not technically correct for non-probability online samples. We supply them here to provide a general assessment of error ranges that may be associated with the data. For more information about our methodology, click here. Executive Summary Executive Summary This survey aimed to better understand why international students choose to study in the U.S. and what elements and challenges shape their experience. Studying abroad offers more than a degree, it opens doors to personal and professional growth. Capturing international student perspectives helps ensure higher education remains a bridge to global opportunity. 􀂶Students prioritize academic quality and university reputation above all. Prestige, rigor, and long-term value are key drivers. University discovery is shaped heavily by friends, family, and online networks. 􀂶 One-third of U.S.-bound applicants also apply to other

FAQs

What was the survey’s main goal?

The survey aimed to understand why international students choose to study in the U.S. and which elements and challenges shape their experience.

Which factors most influence how international students discover and choose universities?

Students prioritize academic quality and university reputation. University discovery is mainly shaped by friends, family, classmates, and online rankings.

Why do international students choose the Duolingo English Test (DET) and how widely is it known?

DET appeals for affordability, flexibility, and a friendly test format. DET awareness reached 62% among first-year international students, up from 32% four years earlier, and one-in-five reported using DET to apply to U.S. universities.

Aug 29, 2026

Uploaded by Sage