Record 30 per cent growth in Indian students in US: Report

Washington: Registering an unprecedented growth of nearly 30 per cent last year, a record 132,888 Indian students are now studying in the US, making an estimated contribution of more than USD 3.6 billion to the American economy, a report said.

"While China remains the top country of origin of international students in the US, increasing by 11 per cent to 304,040, India's growth outpaced China's this year, with students from India increasing by 29.4 per cent to a record high of 132,888," said the latest Open Doors Report on International Educational Exchange.

"This is the highest rate of growth for Indian students in the history of the Open Doors project, which spans back to 1954-55," said the report published by the Institute of International Education. "The last time India grew at a comparable rate (29.1) was in 2000-01 when the number of students from India exceeded 50,000 for the first time," it said.

In 2014-15, China and India together accounted for 67 per cent of the increase in international students, and they now constitute nearly 45 per cent of the total number of international students in US higher education, it said. The report found that the number of international students at US colleges and universities had the highest rate of growth in 35 years, increasing by 10 per cent to a record high of 974,926 students in the 2014-15 academic year.

In all, the US hosts more of the world's 4.5 million globally mobile college and university students than any other country in the world, almost double the number hosted by the UK, the second leading host country. "We are excited to see that record numbers of students are taking advantage of international education opportunities," said Assistant Secretary of State Evan Ryan.

This week, the State Department will roll out a new website to help American students find global opportunities that will prepare them to compete in the global economy. Noting that in the 2014-15 academic year, 132,888 students from India were studying in the US (up 29.4 per cent from the previous year), the report said India is the second leading place of origin for students coming to the US, comprising 13.6 per cent of the total international students in the US.

The majority of Indian students in the US study at the graduate level. In 2014-15, 12.4 per cent were undergraduate students, 64 per cent graduate, 1.4 per cent others and 22.1 per cent Optional Practical Training. "Last year, Indian students in US colleges and universities contributed USD 3.6 billion to the US economy," the report said, citing figures from the US Department of Commerce.

"Texas, California, New York, Illinois and Massachusetts are the top five States to host Indian students in the US," Rajika Bhandari, Institute of International Education's Deputy Vice President for Research and Evaluation told reporters. "Where Indian students are coming from in India is not captured in the data, but we do know that they are not coming just from the top metros like New Delhi and Mumbai but also many of them are coming from what might be considered as a second tier metros in India," she said.

According to the report, the number of Indian students in the US has risen by 29.4 per cent in 2014-15, the second year of rising numbers, following three years of declines. India had been the leading place of origin for international students in the US for eight years straight from 2001-02 to 2008-09. In 2009-10, the rate of growth from India levelled off and China replaced India as the top sender and remains in that position today.

Notable growth occurred in 2000-01 with an increase of 29 per cent followed by several years of strong growth. The number of Indian students in the US is more than double what it was 15 years ago in 1999-2000. The report also found the number of US students studying abroad increased by five per cent in 2013-14, the highest rate of growth since the 2008 economic downturn. The number of American students studying abroad has more than tripled in the last two decades to 304,467 which is a new high.

Approximately 80 per cent of all Indian students in the US are in the fields of engineering, maths, computer science and business studies. Thirty per cent of them are in optional practical training (OPT) programme which enable international students to work in paid positions for 12 months after completion of their degree programme in the US and for additional 17 months if in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics fields, the report said.

About 86 thousand student visas including 51,000 F1 visas were issued in the last 12 months. These included 27,000 applicants from Hyderabad, 25,000 from Mumbai and 11,000 from Delhi, said Erica Morrero, Visa officer of US Embassy here. US Ambassador to India Richard Verma, expressing "excitement" over the record number of Indian students on American campuses, said, "There is no better time to be studying in the United States."

"I am also excited about everything the US embassy is doing to encourage Indian and American students to study abroad, and to facilitate institutional partnerships between Indian and US institutions such as through the Indo-US 21st Century Knowledge initiative," he added.