The number of South Korean students studying in the United States fell about 8 percent in March on-year, U.S. government data showed.

According to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement data, Korean students with either F-1 or M-1 visas totaled 78,489 in March, a 7.8 percent drop from last year.

Korean students accounted for 6.6 percent of all foreign students in the U.S., and were the third-largest group after China's 353,069 students and India's 194,438 students, the data showed.

Japanese students totaled 24,452, a 4.2 percent fall from last year.

Of the Korean students, only 20 percent had majors in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, well short of the average 40.4 percent for all foreign students and the 46 percent for Asian students, according to the data.

By country, India had the largest proportion of STEM students with 82 percent, followed by Iran with 77 percent, Nepal with 58 percent and China with 39 percent, the data showed. (Yonhap)