Nigeria is Africa’s biggest exporter of students to U.S.

           

The 2016 Open Doors Report on International Educational Exchange (IEE) has revealed that 10,674 Nigerians are studying in the U.S. during the 2015/16 academic year.

A statement by the U.S. Embassy in Abuja on Tuesday ranked Nigeria as number one in Africa and 14th worldwide as a source of international students in the U.S.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the report is published annually by IIE in partnership with the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.

The figure, according to the report, is 12.4 per cent higher than previous academic year’s figure of 10,568, the highest number of Nigerians studying in the U.S. since 1986/87 academic year.

“Students from Nigeria study primarily at the undergraduate level: 50.8 per cent undergraduate; 35.6 per cent graduate; 11.5 per cent Optional Practical Training; and 2 per cent non-degree programmes or short-term studies.

“Interestingly, the top five institutions that have received the most Nigerian students are all located in the state of Texas.

“They include Houston Community College, the University of  Houston, the University of North Texas, Texas Southern University, and the University of Texas at Arlington,” it stated.

According to the report, 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 report also indicated 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 represents an increase of seven per cent from the previous year to a new high of nearly 1.044 million students,’’ it said.

It quoted IIE President Allan Goodman as saying “this strong growth confirms that U.S. remains the destination of choice in international higher education.

“In 2015/16, there were nearly 69,000 more international students in U.S. higher education compared to the previous year.

“The U.S. hosts more of the world’s 4.5 million globally mobile college and university students than any other country in the world, more than double the number hosted by the UK, the second leading host country.

“The Open Doors findings show that international students value the quality, diversity, and strong reputation of U.S. institutions and recognise that these institutions will give them opportunities that can help them.”

According to the statement, the release of the new Open Doors data marks the celebration of International Education Week, a joint initiative of the U.S. Department of State and Education.

As part of the International Education Week celebration, it stated that EducationUSA Nigeria would host an annual virtual college fair that would target high school and graduate students from all over the country.

It added that American officers would visit high schools to talk about their U.S. and international study experience, and EducationUSA advisers would visit several schools within Lagos and Abuja.