Almost 200,000 Indian students chose the United States as their destination for higher education which is an increase of 19 per cent over the previous year, an annual Open Doors report on international student exchange for the academic year 2021-22 released on Monday said.
Open Doors is a comprehensive information resource on international students and scholars studying or teaching at higher education institutions in the United States, and US students studying abroad for academic credit at their home colleges or universities. The US Department of State sponsors this survey of international exchange activity in the United States.
"We are absolutely delighted to see this 19 per cent increase in the Indian students choosing the United States for higher education over last year. This is a real testament to the value that Indian students and parents see in US education," said Anthony Miranda, Public Diplomacy counsellor for Cultural and Educational Affairs, US Embassy in New Delhi.
When asked about the safety of students due to increase in the shooting incidents in the United States, Anthony said that they are always 'concerned' about the safety of students and there are 'all kinds of procedures and systems' in place.
"We are always concerned with the safety of all of our students, whether they are American students or foreign students. Universities really take security seriously. There are all kinds of procedures in place whether it's campus or systems where students can alert authorities if there is anything wrong or suspicious so that universities can remain safe places", he added.
At present, there are 9,14,095 international students studying in the United States.
In recent years, India has recorded the highest growth in the number of students studying in the US. Currently, India is second only to China in terms of the student population in the United States.
Last year, 1,67,582 Indian students went to the United States to pursue their higher education out of whom the majority opted to study science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields.
However, other fields of study such as business and management, social sciences and education are also popular among international students.
The Institute of International Education (IIE) publishes the Open Doors report. IIE conducts an annual statistical survey on international students in the United States since its founding in 1919 and in partnership with the US Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs since 1972.
Open Doors also reports on the number of international scholars at US universities and international students enrolled in pre-academic.
