International Students Pump $160M Into Hawaii

International students and their dependents spent $160 million in Hawaii during the last academic year.

That's according to a study released Monday by the state and the Hawaii-Pacific division of NAFSA: Association of International Educators.

The state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism says the financial estimate is based on surveys of Hawaii schools authorized by the Department of Homeland Security to enroll nonimmigrant students.

The institutions include universities and colleges, as well as vocational, language, technical and high schools.

According to the survey the top five places of origin for the more than 13,000 international students were Japan, South Korea, Switzerland, Taiwan and China.

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