Exclusive by Rudra Narayan Sahoo, New York/Mumbai: India, the second leading place of origin for students coming to the United States, registered the sharpest rise 25% among leading places of origin of students in 2015-16. In the 2015/16 academic year, 165,918 students from India were studying in the United States (up 24.9% from the previous year). This is second consecutive year enrolment of students from India posted the sharpest rise as last year India posted 29% rise with 1.33 lakh students in 2014-15, according to the 2016 Open Doors Report on International Educational Exchange data released today (14 November 2016) by the Institute of International Education (IIE) in partnership with the USA Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.

India, with nearly 1.66 lakh students, is the second leading place of origin for students coming to the United States, comprising 15.9% of the total international students in the United States. China with 3.29 lakh students represented 31.5% of International students in the USA in 2015-16, which saw 8.1% rise compared to the previous year. The top five places of origin of foreign students coming to USA are as followed: China (31.5), India (15.9), South Arabia (5.9), South Korea (5.8), and Canada (2.6).

According to the 2016 Open Doors Report, the number of international students at U.S. colleges and universities surpassed one million for the first time during the 2015-16 academic year—an increase of 7% from the previous year to a new high of nearly 1,044,000 (more than a million), representing 5% of the total student population at U.S. institutions. More than a third of these international students studied engineering, math or computer science, and 14% engaged in Optional Practical Training (OPT), including many in science, technology, engineering or math (STEM) professions. The report attributed that the growth in international STEM students is likely connected to the 25% increase in students from India, more than three quarters of who study in these fields.

Academic level of students from India:  As per the Open Door data, a significant share of Indian students in the U.S. study at the graduate level. In 2015/16, their breakdown was: 11.6% undergraduate; 61.4% graduate students; 1.5% other; 25.5% OPT (Optional Practical Training). As per USA Department of Commerce, last year Indian students in USA colleges and universities contributed $5.01 billion to the USA economy.

While students from China and India remained the leading countries of origin and accounted for 84 percent of the growth in international students in 2015-16, Saudi Arabia’s government-sponsored international scholarship program helped drive that country to surpass South Korea to become the third largest sender of international students to the United States.