‘Most Indian students in US are pursuing PG’

HYDERABAD: More than half of the Indian students in the United States of America pursue masters courses. According to US consul-general Katherine Hadda, nearly 62 per cent of the 1.66 lakh students pursuing higher education in US universities are enrolled on MS, MBA and PhD programmes. “According to the statics for year 2015-16, Indians constituted 16 per cent of the international student community, second after China,” said officials at the US University Fair organised by the US India Education Foundation and Education Hyderabad here on Wednesday. More than 800 students registered for participation in the fair. 

Hyderabad, which is the top sender of Indian students to US universities and colleges, however, showed a skewed ratio of women applying to the US universities, said the consul-general. Of the 35 American institutions which participated in the fair offering undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate programmes, those offering Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) courses, followed by business courses, were the most sought after.  

“Indians’ fascination for STEM continues because these courses allow the students to work on H1B visa for three years after completion of the course. And paying you educational loans in dollars is seen as a better option than in rupees,” said Aruna Dasgupta, adviser to the  University of South Florida. The USF has 47,000 students and among the 5,000-odd international students, 1,000 are Indians. “Of these Indians, 60 per cent are from Hyderabad,” added Dasgupta.