5.4% jump in Indian students to US, science, engineering preferred
Indians constitute up to 17.9 per cent of all international students, second only to China (33.2%).
Bengaluru: The number of Indian students to the United States has seen a 5.4 per cent jump this year, as compared to last year, and around 1.96 lakh students have enrolled for various courses in higher education for the academic year 2017-18, states the 2018 Open Doors Report on International Educational Exchange, released by the Institute of International Education and the US. The report also mentions that around 73 per cent of these students have picked STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering or Mathematics) courses.
Indians constitute up to 17.9 per cent of all international students, second only to China (33.2%). The graph has been on an increasing for the fifth consecutive year. Last year, 1.86 lakh Indian students enrolled for higher education courses in the US. India is also in the second and fourth spot in the number of international students attending graduate and undergraduate courses, respectively.
‘Number doubled in last decade’
Minister Counsellor for Consular Affairs Joseph Pomper said that the number of Indian students going to study in the US has doubled in the last decade. “The reasons are clear: Indian students are looking for a great education and the United States continues to offer this,” he said. Mr Adam Grotsky, Director of US-Indian Educational Foundation (USIEF), said the student exchange programmes to be “one of the best ways to foster meaningful relationships and promote mutual understanding between American and Indian citizens.” It has to be noted that the number of American students studying in India also increased by 12.5% this year, amounting to 4,704, he said.
OPT enrolments see 32% hike
While as many as 48.7% of the 1,96,271 Indian students have registered themselves for graduate programmes, the number, interestingly, has seen a decline of 8.8 per cent. However, 75,390 students have picked Optional Practical Training (OPT) programmes which is a 32 per cent increase. These programmes allow students to stay back to work for one year on a student visa to complement their education.