One in six of international students in the US is an Indian despite Trump win

More and more Indians are preferring to go to the US for studies and the numbers are sky-rocketing. The international student count in the US surpassed the one-million mark, which is about 7% more than the last year. The rates at which Indian students are increasing in US have also seen a huge rise and one in every six international students is an Indian. According to 2016 Open Doors Report on International Educational Exchange, a record 165,918 Indians were studying in the US during academic year 2015-16.

The rate of growth of Indian students at almost 25% is the highest among the top 25 places of origin for scholars in America. In all, 1.7 lakh students from India are studying in the US, making up 16% of the total international students. A majority of them study at the graduate level. Most of them are studying at a graduate level.

In 2015-16, the breakdown was: 11.6% undergraduate; 61.4% graduate; 1.5% other; 25.5% OPT (Optional Practical Training). Last year, these students contributed $5billion to the American economy.

China, however, is still standing at the first position at the largest sender of international students to the US with a 31.5% share in all international enrollments.

Students from the top senders-China, India and Saudi Arabia are now about 53% of all international student enrollment. In all, 10,43,839 foreign candidates, representing 5% of the US' total higher education student population, contribute nearly $36billion to the US economy, says the Department of Commerce.

The number of Chinese students grew by 8.1% in 2015-16, but those from India rose 24.9% in 2015-16, following a 29.4% growth the year prior and a 6.1% growth rate the year before that.

The Open Doors report is published annually by the Institute of International Education in partnership with the US Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.
(image: IndiaTimes)