Indian students mark their presence in US universities

Indian students are a strong presence on U.S. campuses, contributing an estimated $3.3 billion to the U.S. economy as IIE reports, using U.S. Department of Commerce data. This year, the number of Indian students in the United States surpassed the 100,000 mark, ticking up to 102,673, keeping India the number two country of origin for foreign students in the United States.

As the fact sheet on India shows, India was the number one place of origin for foreign students in the United States for eight years, from the 2001-02 survey year through 2008-09. In 2009-10, however, China surpassed India as a place of origin, with more than 127,000 students in the United States that year compared with India’s nearly 105,000. The number of students from India then began to dip slightly, dropping to below 100,000 by 2012-13, although it was still the number two place of origin. By comparison, students from China have been rapidly increasing in numbers such that for the 2013-14 year just released, there were close to 275,000 Chinese students in the United States. 

An overwhelming number of Indian students in the United States are at the graduate level, 59.5%. Just 12.3% of the Indian students here are undergrads, and 27% are pursuing optional practical training (a year of work preceding or following degree completion). This profile differs substantially from the breakdown of Chinese students in the United States, of whom 40% are undergrads, 42% are graduate level and 12.2% are carrying out optional practical training. More interestingly, 78.6% of the Indian students in the United States are in the “STEM” (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) fields. The only country sending a higher proportion of its students in the STEM fields is Iran, with 79.6%.