Danning Zhang was in middle school when she started dreaming about leaving Beijing to study at an American university and pursue a career as a television news reporter.

Now 18, the only child of a Chinese army colonel is starting her second semester at the University at Albany, where she is majoring in communications.

“It took some time to adjust to the language and culture shock, but I never got scared,” Zhang said. “My English has gotten a lot better.”

Zhang is one of a growing number of Chinese undergraduates who are leaving home to attend college in the United States.

A total of 98,500 Chinese undergraduates were enrolled at American universities last year. That’s a 21 percent increase over the previous year, according to a report by the Institute of International Education.

The enrollment spike at UA has been more dramatic. The number of Chinese undergraduates grew from 25 in 2007 to 116 last fall.

That growth is helping China close the gap on India, which for the past eight years has sent more college students to the United States than any other country in the world. Last year, 103,000 Indian students were enrolled at American colleges.

The demand for an American college education is attracting students from all over the world. Six countries—Brazil, Germany, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Turkey, and Vietnam—saw at least 8 percent more students attend an American university during the 2008-09 school year than in the previous year.

The total number of international students studying in the United States rose 8 percent last year to a record 671,616, growing at a faster pace than in each of the previous 28 years.

That increase is not accidental.

For colleges, especially public ones, international students are an important economic-development tool, said Ray Bromley, vice provost for international education at UA.

Recruiting foreign students boosts enrollment and helps universities generate more revenue. Those are big benefits at a time when the economy has made college fundraising more difficult. The recession also has depleted endowments and forced states to cut aid.

International students spent $17.8 billion in the U.S. last year. Of that, $2.2 billion was spent by students attending New York universities.

The 2,614 foreign students who attended 16 different colleges in the Albany area last year spent $65.4 million on tuition, fees, and living expenses, according to a report by the National Association of Foreign Student Advisers.