Telugu students’ penchant for United States seems to be increasing by the day, while students from North Eastern parts of the country seem to be least interested compared to their peers in other parts.
This can be gleaned from the fact that the highest number of student visas are being issued by the US Consulate in Hyderabad, which is the visa issuing centre for students from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
The Consulate issued around 27,000 student visas in the last one year while the second highest of around 25,000 were issued in Mumbai followed by Chennai (18,500), Delhi (11,000) and Calcutta (3,700).
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However, all the visas may not be related to students directly as family members visiting students in the US are also given student visas.
It is assumed that nearly 90 per cent of these are issued to students only as parents generally visit US on a business visa after their wards complete the course and take up a job.
Indian students on US campuses increased by 29.4 per cent from 1,02,673 in 2013-14 to 1,32,888 in 2014-15. The Open Doors report, published by Institute of International Education in partnership with the US State Department reveals this is the highest growth rate since 1954-55 when the data was first recorded for the Open Doors Project.
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The previous record was 29.1 per cent in 2000-01.
The report released recently says that China remains on top with an increase of 11 percent to 3,04,040 students. China and India together constitute nearly 45 percent of the international students in US with India contributing 14 percent of it.
Around 80 percent of all Indian students are in the fields of Engineering, Maths, Computer Science and Business. Thirty percent of all Indian students in US are in an Optional Practical Training (OPT) Programme which enables international students to work in paid positions for 12 months after completion of their degree programme in the US and for an additional 17 months if they are in the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) fields.
The report also shows Indian students preferring graduate courses (64 percent) followed by undergraduate (12 percent) and one percent in non-degree programmes such as English language or short-term studies.
Twenty two percent are under optional practical training (OPT).
Ravilochan Singh, foreign education counsellor from Global Reach analyses the growth saying visas are relatively easy to get now.
Aggressive marketing strategy
Aggressive marketing strategy by US varsities is another reason, feels Nishi Borra of Storm Consultancy.