USA News: According to the 2016 Open Doors report on International Educational Exchange, there is a rise in the number of students from 132,888 in 2014-15 to 165,918 in 2015-16. A group of students from India, China and the United State.
Open Doors®, supported by a grant from the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State, is a comprehensive information resource for international students and scholars studying or teaching at higher education institutions in the United States, and U.S. students studying abroad for academic credit at their home colleges or universities.
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The United States continues to be the most popular destination among students for attaining higher education. Crossing over 1 million students in 2015-16, the US records an increase of 25 percent over the last year.
This is amazing at the time when anti-immigrant sentiments are strong in the US. After the three-year slump, 2015-16 is marked as the third consecutive year of an upward trend in enrollment from Indian students.
Photo courtesy: Connectedtoindia A total of 165,918 Indians enrolled for different courses in the academic year 2015-16. Out of these students, 11.6 percent went for undergraduate courses and 61.4 percent pursued graduate studies. Around 25 percent of these students were pursuing Optional Practical Training which is an extended period of a year when graduates can work in the US on a student visa.
With an increase of 7 percent from the last year, this is the first time the number of international students at US colleges and universities surpassed one million. After China, Indians formed the second largest student population in the US. Chinese students hold 31.5 percent (328,547) of the entire international student population.
Last year Indian students in US colleges and universities contributed $5.01 billion to the US economy.