Nigeria has highest number of African students in US – Report

The United States government on Tuesday has announced that Nigeria has the highest number of students from Africa studying in the US.

According to the 2016 Open Doors Report on International Educational Exchange, there were 10,674 Nigerians studying in the US during the 2015-16 academic year.

The reported noted that the figure made Nigeria the leading source of African students and ranked 14th worldwide as a source of international students in the US.

“This figure marks the highest number of Nigerians studying in the United States since 1986-87,” the report said.

It stated that students from Nigeria who studied primarily at the undergraduate level were “50.8% undergraduate; 35.6% graduate; 11.5 % Optional Practical Training; and 2% non-degree programmes or short-term studies.”

The study also showed that the top five institutions that had received the most Nigerian students are all located in the state of Texas: 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 US during the period include Ghana with 3,049, Kenya with 3,019, and South Africa with 1,813.

The Open Doors report is published annually by the Institute of International Education in partnership with the US Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.

The Open Doors report also indicated that the number of international students at US colleges and universities surpassed one million for the first time during the 2015-2016 academic year, which is an increase of seven per cent from the previous year to a new high of nearly 1,044,000 students.