The total number of foreign students studying in South Korea has surpassed the 100,000 mark, a local education data institute said Sunday.

Data provided by Higher Education in Korea (www.academyinfo.go.kr) showed the landmark number being reached as of April 1, with 104,262 students enrolled in local schools.

The total marks a surge from just 3,954 tallied in 2000, the institute said. The numbers rose to 89,537 in 2011, but fell in the following years before rebounding to 91,332 last year.

Korea University had 4,333 foreign students enrolled this year, ranking No. 1 among local schools. Of these, 1,564 were striving to get degrees, with the rest being exchange students or enrolled in language courses.

After Korea University, Kyung Hee University and Yonsei University had the largest number of foreign students at 3,655 and 3,223 respectively, and Sungkyunkwan University and Chung-Ang University also both have more than 2,000.

Besides the top five schools, Hanyang, Konkuk, Dongguk, Kookmin and Seoul National University made the top 10 list with over 1,500 foreign students each, the latest data showed. (Yonhap)