Chennai, Nov 14 (KNN) India registered a 35 per cent rise in the number of students travelling to the U.S. in the past year, according to the annual Open Doors Report released on Monday.

About 25 per cent of the over 10 lakh foreign students enrolled in colleges in the U.S. this academic year are from India.

For the first time since 2009-10, India is set to surpass China in the number of students travelling to the U.S. for higher education, the report said.

The Institute of International Education (IIE) publishes the Open Doors report that includes international students enrolled in U.S. higher education institutions and those opting for optional practical training from Fall 2022 to Spring 2023.   

The report said the number of international students in the U.S. had rebounded to near pre-pandemic levels, with 10,57,188 students enrolled in higher education institutions in 2022-23. In 2021-22, a total of 9,48,519 students had travelled to the U.S. for higher education. The U.S. also registered an 8% growth in students pursuing optional practical training (OPT).

The report’s release marks the beginning of the International Education Week that commenced on Monday.  

Christopher W. Hodges, U.S. Consul-General, Chennai, said the report showed that with over 4,000 accredited institutions, the U.S. was the preferred destination for international students.  

Graduate students tended to focus on research and helped drive innovation when they returned to India, besides building links between industry and education, Mr. Hodges said.  

He said he had visited the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, and Anna University, and was struck by the percentage of universities in the State.  

“India’s growth trajectory (in education abroad when compared to China) is growing. Every student is an ambassador for bilateral relations,” he said, adding that collaborative research in newer technologies would help solve global problems. “We are building a reservoir of Indian students in research who build connections with other students,” he said. While governments build relations, the foundation stone is people-to-people exchange, he added. 

(KNN Bureau)