CLEVELAND, Ohio - Ohio had the nation's eighth-largest foreign student enrollment in 2016 with 38,680 students, a 2.5 percent increase from 2015, according to an annual report.

But the number of new foreign students enrolling as freshmen in U.S. universities in 2016 decreased for the first time in years, while more U.S. students are studying abroad, the report states.

The Open Doors Report on International Educational Exchange, published by the Institute of International Education, was released Monday.

The national decline in new foreign students was more pronounced this fall, according to a survey of 522 colleges by the organization, the report says. And the current U.S. social and political environment presents challenges for future international student recruitment.

Ohio's ranking for foreign student enrollment has remained unchanged for several years. The state's fall 2015 enrollment was a 5.6 percent increase from the prior year.

Most students came into the state from China (39.9 percent), India (19.2 percent) and Saudi Arabia (11.1 percent).

Ohio State University had 7,684 international students in 2016, ranking first in the state and 17th in the U.S.

The University of Cincinnati ranked second in the state with 4,013 foreign students. It was followed by Kent State University (3,625), Miami University (2,654), Case Western Reserve University (2,565), Wright State University (2,372), University of Toledo (2,200), Cleveland State University (1,973), University of Dayton (1,837), Ohio University (1,588) and the University of Akron (1,367).

The nationwide number of American students studying abroad in 2015 increased by 4 percent from the prior year to 325,339. The number of American students studying abroad has more than tripled in the past two decades; however, the rate of growth had slowed following the financial crisis in 2008, the report said.

The number of Ohio students who studied abroad in 2015 was 14,136, compared to 12,868 in 2014.

U.S. colleges seek foreign students to bolster enrollment and their budgets, for those students generally pay full tuition and fees.

Overall, there was a 3.4 percent increase in total international student enrollment in 2016 compared to the year before, with the total of 1,078,822 exceeding 1 million for the second year.

The number of new international students, who enroll as freshmen, declined by nearly 10,000 students to about 291,000, a 3.3 percent decrease.

The largest enrollment growth was from international students who have graduated but remain classified as students at universities with student visas while working under the optional practical training program.

The international enrollment data is not a crisis but is "more of a wake-up call where this is the beginning of a flattening trend, " Rajika Bhandari, head of research, policy and practice at the Institute of International Education, which publishes the annual survey with funding from the U.S. State Department, told Inside Higher Ed. "There's a lot that institutions and others can be doing to still turn this around."

The institute cited the 2016 enrollment decline to global and local economic conditions, expanded higher education opportunities in other countries and declining populations.

"The scaling back of large Saudi and Brazil government scholarship programs were a significant factor, as the number of students from those two countries showed the biggest decreases at all levels, including non-degree study," officials said in a press release.

The institute conducted a 2017 fall enrollment survey of international students at 522 colleges. The colleges reported an average decrease of 7 percent of new students but 45 percent of schools reported declines while 31 percent reported increases.

The colleges cited several factors in declining enrollment, including competition from other countries, the cost of U.S. higher education, visa delays or denials, and an uncertain U.S. social and political climate, the institute said.

Institutions are concerned about recruitment for Fall 2018, particularly from the Middle East and North Africa and Asia.

Over half (52 percent) of institutions report that they are worried that the perceptions of prospective international students will be impacted, and that the current U.S. social and political climate could be a deterrent to U.S. study, the institute said.

However, only 20 percent of institutions indicate that some of their foreign students have expressed the desire to leave or have left the U.S. as a result of the current climate.

Many institutions have responded to the shifting social and political situation through a series of actions, such as alerting students about changes in U.S. policies (65 percent), issuing statements in support of international students (63 percent), and creating opportunities to discuss current U.S. events (54 percent).

For more data, infographics and resources on the 2017 Open Doors Report on International Educational Exchange, visit iie.org/Open-Doors.