They are asking him to "reconcile" the "tensions" between tougher restrictions and the desire for economic growth.
Net migration figures fell last year, with officials saying this was "largely due" to a drop in foreign students.
But the government says it is committed to stamping out abuses of the immigration system.
On Thursday, the House of Lords is set to debate the impact of immigration policy on UK higher education.
The coalition has pledged to restrict the level of annual net migration - the balance between the number of people who come to live in the UK for the long-term and the number who are leaving - to "tens of thousands".
Since last year, all institutions which want to sponsor non-European Union students for a visa must be accredited as "highly trusted".
Potential entrants have to speak a higher standard of English and the "post-study work route" to staying on has been closed, unless graduates have an offer of one of a list of skilled jobs.
The overall UK net migration figure fell from 242,000 to 183,000 in the year to March.
The Office for National Statistics said this was "largely due" to a decline in the number of foreign students despite an increase in the number of arrivals from China - the UK's largest overseas student market.
Opponents of the government's changes say they damage the economy by restricting the lucrative movement of students to the UK, putting universities at a disadvantage.
In their letter to Mr Cameron, the five select committee chairmen urge "further action to encourage international university students to study in the UK".
They add: "Doing so has the potential to support economic growth in the immediate and longer term, supporting jobs in university towns and increasing export earnings.
"International students who study in the UK also build relationships which last over time, laying the foundations for future business opportunities in emerging economies, and supporting our foreign policy objectives."
They also ask the prime minister to "reconcile the remaining tensions between visa policy and aspirations for growth by removing international students from the net migration target".
The signatories include three Labour MPs: Keith Vaz (Home Affairs Committee), Adrian Bailey (Business Committee) and Margaret Hodge (Public Accounts Committee). The others are cross-bench peers Lord Hannay (Europe Sub-Committee) and Lord Krebs (Science and Technology Committee).

However, the Scottish Conservatives claim a surge in their support has "sunk" a case for a second indy poll, according to The Herald.
The Scotsman says the local election results have laid down the "battlelines" for the upcoming general election.
"The result now sets up a Westminster poll on 8 June in which independence will be the number one issue," the paper adds.
The Scottish Daily Mail claims it was the Conservatives' best-ever council election result in Scotland, while the SNP "saw its vote plummet compared to recent elections".
However, the Scottish Sun says the surge in support for the Conservatives came at the expense of votes for the Labour party, which "suffered a bruising ... defeat". Despite the Tory comeback, the SNP was still the "runaway winner", it added.
Scotland's "constitutional obsession" sparked the Tories revival, according to the Daily Record. It notes that the "party of Thatcher" even won a council seat in Ravenscraig, "25 years after she sounded the death knell for the Motherwell steelworks".
Meanwhile the Aberdeen edition of The Press and Journal reports that the SNP is poised to take over control of the city council after support for Labour fell.
In Dundee the SNP lost their overall majority, according to The Courier, but the SNP group leader is still likely to run the council, as head of either a minority administration or a coalition.
The chairmen of five parliamentary committees have written to David Cameron to urge him to remove overseas student numbers from migration targets.
[NEXT_CONCEPT]
The National hails the SNP's victory in the local elections "emphatic", adding that it deals a blow to Theresa May's bid to stop a second independence referendum.