Chennai: The number of Indian students studying in US universities has increased by 5.4 per cent from the previous academic year to 1.96 lakh, bolstered by a 6.2 per cent rise in students opting for undergraduate courses according to the Open Doors Report, an annual census of international students studying in the United States.
Addressing mediapersons here Tuesday, United States Consul General, Robert Burgess said, “The United States hosts over one million international students. Students from India represent nearly 18 per cent of that total. Over the last decade, the number of Indian students has doubled. This marks the fifth consecutive year that the total number of Indian pursuing their higher education in the US has grown.”
But looking at the total new international student enrollments in the United States, the numbers have fallen from 2.90 lakh students in the academic year 2016/17 to 2.71 lakh students in 2017/18. Since 2017, the year Donald Trump became the US President, the growth rate of international students opting for the US has seen a slight decline.
Commenting on the decline, Consul General Burgess said, “We do not have one single reason for that. Preferences of students, opportunities at other places, economic factors and exchange rates and any number of factors can affect the numbers. We are competing with some of the best universities in the world to attract the best international students.”
Among the US, California, New York, Texas, Massachusetts occupy the top-5 spots in numbers in international students presence. New York University occupies the first spot followed by University of Southern California, Northeastern University – Boston, Columbia University and Arizona State University in the top US institutions hosting international students.
STEM fields (science, technology, engineering, and math) continue to dominate as the most preferred for international students opting for studies in the US at 25 per cent. Also, the number of American students studying in India has also increased to 4,704 this year, up by 12.5 per cent.