HYDERABAD: The American consulate in the city issued the highest number of student visas in India between July 2014 and July 2015. This is also the fourth highest number of student visas issued by any other US consulate in the entire world during the same period.
With a massive response from the Indian students for higher education in the USA, the American consulate in Hyderabad has registered nearly 40 percent growth in the number of student visas it issued in this year.
For decades American universities have been the most preferred by Indian students aspiring to higher education. The trend still continues with thousands of students from many states queuing up for the American visa every year. But it is the US consulate in Hyderabad that receives the highest number of student visa applications in India. According to Michael Mullins, the US consul-general here, the number of student visa applications from Hyderabad went up by 51 pc this year.
Talking to reporters on the sidelines of the University Fair of US-India Education Foundation (USIEF), which opened here on Wednesday, Mullins said, “Andhra Pradesh and Telangana states send one of the highest number of students to USA for higher education every year. Most students prefer the engineering courses offered by the US universities.”
During the current academic year, there has been a significant growth in the number of Indian students studying in US universities. According to the Open Doors 2014 report, there were 1,02,673 Indian students in the USA in 2013-14 academic year. The number has gone up by 32 pc in the past one year. “Factors like widely available scholarships, education loans and the increasing popularity of US universities in the global rankings are attracting more students to the USA for education,” Mullins explained.
Considering the growing popularity of US universities with Indian students, the USIEF, in association with the US consulate here, has brought representatives of 22 public and private American universities to the city to address queries on admission process, scholarships, available courses and various other issues.
During the interaction with students at the Education Fair, the representatives of universities advised them to choose the institutes carefully. Ishrat Jahan, regional educational and advising coordinator of USIEF, said there were around 5,000 USA government-accredited institutes which admit foreign students. Students must check the accreditation of the institutes before taking admission, she advised.