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
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
(image: IndiaTimes)