Reverse migration as Indian students to US dip while American students to India rise by 44 pc

C Shivakumar

Chennai:

Indian students in the United States has declined by one per cent but surprisingly the country has emerged as one of the most preferred destination for US students to study abroad, according to a US official.

Students from India, the second largest international cohort in the United States, decreased by one percent to a total of nearly 104,000, but India is soon becoming a preferred destination for US students with a rise in 44 per cent of American students taking up short-term courses in various streams in Indian institutes, according to a US official.

The preferred destinations for US students are Madurai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Pune, Delhi, Mysore, Dharamshala, Mumbai, Kolkata and Varanasi, said Adam J Grotsky, executive director United States – India Educational Foundation (USIEF) on the sidelines of US consul general Jennifer McIntyre delivering a speech on ‘Celebrating the Shared Educational Goals of US and India.’

The students prefer arts and science courses besides engineering institutes. “They prefer short-term courses on social sciences, anthropology and technology besides religion,” said Grotsky.

The rise in US students visiting India is due to the fact that the country has a huge market and a growing economy. The future generation is focusing on India as it is strategically import for United States, he said. 

While slightly declining in numbers, students from India still represent 14 percent of all international students in US higher education, with tens of thousands more students from India in US higher education than in any other host country. 

Interestingly, Chinese student enrollment in the United States rose to a total of nearly 158,000 students, or nearly 22 per cent of the total international student population, making China the leading sending country for the second year in a row.

Meanwhile, the number of international students at colleges and universities in the United States increased by five per cent to 723,277 during the 2010-11 academic year, according to the Open Doors report, which is published annually by the Institute of International Education (IIE) in partnership with the US Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.