New Delhi: The percentage of increase in fresh enrolments by Indians in US has halved in 2016-2017 to 12.3% from almost 25% the previous year, according to the latest Open Doors surveyconducted by the Institute of International Education.
The year 2014-15 too had seen robust growth of 29.4%.
In global terms, the US saw a decline in fresh enrolments this year, with nearly 10,000 fewer candidates signing up; the new student count of about 2.9 lakh represents a 3% decrease from the previous year.
For the third year in a row, the largest growth came from India, primarily at the graduate level and in optional practical training (OPT), which is temporary employment linked to a student's area of study (eligible students can receive up to 12 months of OPT before and/or after completing studies). The Indian student population in the US is now 1.86 lakh.
About 22,000 Indian students in the US are undergraduate students (13.9% increase over the previous year), 1.05 lakh graduate students (3% rise), 57,132 doing their OPT (35%) and 2,259 who have enrolled for non-degree courses (a fall of 7.3%).
China sends the most students to the US, followed by India. But India's rate of growth has still outpaced China's (which is at 6.8%). Students from these two countries now represent almost 50% of the total enrolment of international students in the US. While overall fresh enrolment has fallen, the number of international students studying on American campuses has increased.
For the second consecutive year, US colleges and universities hosted more than 1 million international students, thereby reaching 1.08 million. The factors driving the slowing of growth include a mix of global and local economic conditions, and in some cases, expanded higher education opportunities at home and declining populations, stated the press statement from the IIE on the survey.
"Much of the increase reported for the past couple of years can be attributed to more students pursuing OPT related to their academic fields after their degree studies in the US.