India sends maximum students to the US to study

India continues to be the leading country to send maximum number of students to the United States for pursuing higher education for the seventh consecutive year surpassing China, an official report said.

India has retained the first slot for the seventh year in succession with the number of Indian students in the US increasing by 13 per cent in 2007-08 to reach 94,563, according to the Open Doors report published by the Institute of International Education with support from the US Department of State's Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs.

The total number of foreign students pursuing studies and research activities in the US reached an all time high of 6,23,805 in 2007-08 session, marking an increase of seven per cent over the previous year, the report released today said.

The new enrolments were up by 10 per cent in the colleges and universities in the US, the report said. The increase in students is attributed to the outreach efforts carried out by the Department of State in key international markets including India, China, Vietnam and Brazil.

With respect to sending maximum number of students, India is followed by China (81,127) and South Korea (69,124). There is a continued drop in numbers of students from Japan, the fourth leading sender, down by 4 percent to 33,974, declining for the third consecutive year.

Asia accounts for 61 per cent of total international student population in the US. Students flow from Pakistan and Bangladesh were down by one per cent and four per cent respectively than the previous year.

Canada, the only non-Asian country in the top five, saw a 3 percent increase to 29,051 students in the United States.