India calling

Updated on: Monday, November 30, 2009

THE Open Doors Survey 2009 reveals that while India remains the leading country, for the eighth consecutive year, to contribute the largest chunk of international students to the US there has also been a sharp increase in the number of American students going to study in other countries and India is among them. The survey is conducted annually by the International Institute of Education (IIE) with the US Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.

Pointing out the reasons behind the heightened influx of US students to India, Allan Goodman, president and CEO, IIE, says, “India is the world’s largest democracy but probably one which is least understood by Americans. Five to 10 years ago 70,000 Indian students were studying in the US while a mere 700 American students studied in India. Today the number of American students in India has scaled up to 3,000. But this is far from enough. We need more American students and universities to go to India in order to have a better understanding of the country.” The recent survey, which is based on international students enrolment in approximately 3,000 US higher education institutions, shows that Indian students constitute 15.4% of the total international student population in the US.

In the academic year 2008-2009 there were 103,206 Indian students studying at various levels as compared to 94,563 students last year that indicates an increase of 9%. Incidentally, China with 98,510 students remains the second leading country to constitute international students population in the US. Interestingly, China still commands the second position despite the fact that the percentage of Chinese students going to study at US universities in 2008-2009 has risen by 15% from the previous year which is higher than the percentage rise (9%) of Indian students going to US universities this year.

The total number of international students in the US stands at 671,616 in the academic year 2008-2009 . Did recession have any impact on the total number of international students going to the US? Goodman said, “On the contrary, the findings indicate that there has been an increase in international students population in the US by 8%. However, the data does not reflect the full impact of the past year’s economic downturn, since students decided to come to the US before the financial impact.”

As to whether he foresees a negative effect of the economic downturn in terms of the number of international students to the US, he said, “To get a snapshot of increase or decrease in international students’ enrolment for Fall 2009, we conducted an online survey. The survey indicates a mixed picture. Around 50% of those responding campuses continued to witness increase in applications while 24% reported a decline.”

According to Goodman, education is valued across the globe and, hence, people would not stop spending on quality higher education. However, the survey reveals that there is a rising trend in terms of exploring less expensive destinations and shorter stays. “The notable increase in the number of US students going to countries like China, India, Ireland, Austria and South Africa reiterates this trend,” he states.

US HIGHER EDUCATION: AT A GLANCE
State with maximum international students: California University with maximum international students: University of South California Popular subjects: Business and management followed by engineering and physical science International students’ contribution to the US economy.

Timesofindia

India calling

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