A report has said that the number of students studying in the US has increased by 25% which is a record high figure. The report has shown figures from 2015 to 2016. The Open Doors data of 2016 revealed that Indian students contribute more than $5.5bn to the American economy. The figure has come against the backdrop of a steep decline of the Indian students opting for the UK.
Estimates have cited a 50% drop in four years. Experts say that tougher visa rules and stabilization of rupee against the dollar explain the trend. Reports say that a total of 165,918 Indians are now studying in the US which is up from 132,888 in 2014-15. The figures have been released by the Institute of International Education in collaboration with the US State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Indian students account for the largest growth in students in the US for the second year in the row especially in the graduate and the optional practical training.
The US has students from Saudi Arabia, India and China who now account for more than half of the million plus foreign students in the US. China was a country with the largest number of students in the US and almost twice the number of students as India. The report said, “But India’s rate of growth and absolute increases outpaced China’s”. Rajika Bhandari, the deputy vice president for research and evaluation at the Institute of International Education said that Indian students who had put their plans on hold were now able to come to the US with the establishment of the rupee against the dollar over the past couple of years.
Bhandari added that the strict policies in the UK might also be one of the reasons of the Indian students getting diverted to the US.
Photo Credits: indiatimes
