The 2015 Open Doors Report on International Educational Exchange revealed that the number of international students at U.S. colleges and universities had the highest rate of growth in 35 years, increasing by ten percent to a record high of 974,926 students in the 2014-15 academic year.
The number of Indian Students grew by close to 30% to an all time high of 1,32,888 in the same period. This is second only to China.
Number of International Students in the USA by origin
As per the Open Doors report, out of the close to a million international students, 65% are from Asia (44% from China & India alone), 9.3% are from Europe, 8.9% are from the Latin America, 10.6% are from Middle East & North Africa. A mere 3.4% are from the Sub-Saharan Africa.
Top 10 countries of Origin of International Students
As expected, the two most populous countries of the world contribute close to 44% of the total international students in the US.
China leads the pack with 304040 students followed by India with 132888 students.
South Korea is third with more than 63000 students followed by Saudi Arabia with close to 60000 students. Six of the top 10 countries are from Asia.
Indian Students in the USA
The number of Indian students in the USA has grown four times from 33818 in 1997-98 to 132888 in 2014-15.The number has grown four times in the 18 year period.
They currently make up 13.6% of all international students in the USA.
The number of Indian students has seen a consistent growth except for 2005-06 and the period from 2010-11 to 2012-13 when there was a negative growth.
The highest growth rate of 29.4% was observed in 2014-15.
The number of students from USA in India also saw a growth from 684 in 1997-98 to 4583 in 2013-14, more than a six fold jump.
Field of Study
True to its name as a land of engineering graduates, almost 70% of the Indian students in the US chose Engineering & Computer Science as their field of study.
About 11% chose Business & Management as their field of study. About 8% chose Physical & Life Sciences.
Except in engineering & computer science, the percentage of Indian students in other fields of study is either close to or below the global average.
Academic Level & Economic Impact
Almost 65% of the Indian students in the USA are at the graduate level. 12.4% of them are at the under graduate level, while 22.1% of them are OPT (Optional Practical Training). 1.4% of them at the other level.
According to the Open Doors report, Indian students in U.S. colleges and universities contributed $3.6 billion to the U.S. economy. The international student community on the other hand contributed $30.5 billion to the U.S. economy.
Choice of States
The top destination for Indian students was Texas with 17763 students followed by New York with 15053 students. California, Illinois & Massachusetts make up the top five.
It must be noted that Texas was the not the top destination for all international students.
It was the 3rd most preferred destination for international students while the most preferred destination was California followed by New York.
Primary Source of Funding for International Students
For close to 2/3rd of the international students in the USA, the primary source of funding is their family.
About 21% are funded by the US universities either through scholarships or waivers.
7.7% are funded by foreign governments or universities while 5% are funded by their current employment. Only 1% is funded by a foreign private sponsor.
(Rakesh has been working on issues related to Right to Information (RTI) for a decade. He is a Data/Information enthusiast & passionate about Governance/Policy issues).
