NEW DELHI: Indian students saw a 35 per cent jump in the US colleges in a rebound from a pandemic slump, according to findings from the US State Department and the nonprofit Institute of International Education.
The findings said that more than 1 million students came from abroad to US colleges, the most since the 2019-20 school year, according to the Open Doors 2023 report on International Educational Exchange.
The surge in international students was mainly fuelled by Indian students, who made a beeline to US colleges after Covid-19 cases dwindled, following which international restrictions eased and travel opened up.
India, the second largest sending country, saw an all-time high number of students at 2,68,923 in 2022-23, an increase of 35 per cent year-over-year.
Overall, the number of international students in the US grew by 12 per cent in the 2022-23 academic year, the most significant single-year increase in more than 40 years.
Most Indian students are admitted to graduate programmes, often in science, technology and business courses.
However, China still accounted for the most international students in the US, with 2.90 lakh. But its numbers decreased for a third consecutive year, the report said.
The surge in Indian students saw their numbers outnumbering those from China in 24 US states, including Illinois, Texas, and Michigan, which rank among the top destinations for international students.
"The US maintains a strong relationship with India on education, which I think is getting even more robust and connected," said Marianne Craven, the State Department acting deputy assistant secretary for academic exchange.
After China and India, the countries that send the most students to the US were South Korea, Canada, Vietnam, Taiwan, and Nigeria.
"This reinforces that the US remains the destination of choice for international students wishing to study abroad, as it has been for over a century," said Allan E Goodman, CEO of the Institute of International Education.
Last year saw a record number of students from Bangladesh, Colombia, Ghana, India, Italy, Nepal, Pakistan, and Spain.
The US's graduate programmes were the main attraction for international students, the study said. The graduate enrollment grew by 21 per cent, while undergraduate numbers ticked up 1 per cent, it added.
The report said the surge in international student numbers closely matched the pre-pandemic figure when almost 1.1 million students enrolled in US colleges in 2018. But it fell during the Covid-19 years, which saw a fall in academic exchange.