Nigerians Rank High In Africa, 14th Worldwide as a Source of U.S International students

The 2016 Open Doors Report on International Educational Exchange on Tuesday reported that there were 10,674 Nigerians studying in the United States during the 2015/2016 academic year.

The report said that Nigeria was, therefore, the leading source of African students and ranked 14th worldwide as a source of international students in the United States.

“The 2016 Open Doors Report on International Educational Exchange reveals there were 10,674 Nigerians studying in the United States during the 2015/2016 academic year.

“Nigeria has become the leading source of African students and ranked 14th worldwide as a source of international students in the United States.

“This figure marks the highest number of Nigerians studying in the United States since 1986-1987 academic session,’’ the report said.

It said that the Nigerian students constituted 50.8 per cent of those who had studied at the undergraduate level and 35.6 per cent that had studied at the graduate level.

It added that 11.5 per cent had done Optional Practical Training and two per cent had also studied non-degree programmes respectively.

The report said that they had studied in Houston Community College, the University of Houston, the University of North Texas, Texas Southern University, and the University of Texas at Arlington.

Other African countries with over 1,000 students in the U.S. during this period include : Ghana with 3,049, Kenya with 3,019 and South Africa with 1,813.

The Open Doors reported that the number of international students at U.S. colleges and universities surpassed one million for the first time during the 2015-2016 academic year.

“This strong growth confirms that the United States remains the destination of choice in international higher education.

“In 2015-2016, there were nearly 69,000 more international students in U.S. higher education compared to the previous year,’’ it said.

Source: Students.com.ng