Hyderabad: Despite US President Donald Trump’s attempts to tighten visa norms, there has been a 12 per cent increase in the number of Indian students who have migrated to the US in the current academic year, as compared to last year. According to the Open Doors Report released on Monday in Delhi by the Institute of International Education (IIE) and the US State Department’s bureau of educational and cultural affairs, the cumulative percentage of international students in the US has increased by three per cent, and over 50 per cent of the increase has been from India.
“The percentage of American students studying abroad has increased by four per cent. The number of Indian students in the United States has, once again, risen to a record level, over 1,86,000, to see a double-digit growth for the fourth year in a row. The increase by 21,000 students as compared to last year is one of the highest rates of growth in the world. In 2016-17.” the report said.
“For the second consecutive year, US colleges and universities hosted more than one million international students. This also marks the eleventh consecutive year of continued expansion of the total number of international students in the US for higher education,” the report reads.
Mr Karl M. Adam, the deputy cultural affairs officer at the US Embassy, said that in the past decade, the number of Indian students in the US had doubled. He said that India was the second leading place of origin for students coming to the US. “A majority of the Indian students in the USA, 56 per cent, are studying at the graduate level. US universities provide unparalleled access to instructors, and provide a wide variety of internship and research opportunities which is the main cause for the demand from Indian students and other international students. The American system of higher education introduces international students to networks and contacts that provide benefits and advantages over a lifetime,” he said.
Besides India, the number of students from China migrating to the USA has increased over the years. Students from South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Canada, Vietnam, Taiwan, Japan, Mexico and Brazil also are migrating to the USA for higher studies.
The top host states in the US are California, New York, Texas, Massachusetts, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Florida, Ohio, Michigan, and Indiana. Each of these states witnessed an increase in the number of international students received in 2016/17. According to a study conducted by the Brookings Institution in 2012, the number of students migrating from Hyderabad to US was the highest among the states of India. There were 26,220 students from Hyderabad, 17,294 from Mumbai, 9,141 from Chennai, 8,835 from Bengaluru, 8,728 from Delhi, 5,551 from Pune and 3,881 from Kolkata migrating for studies in 2012.
