Nigeria ranks top in Africa with number of foreign students in US – Official
Segun Akanni, Toronto, Canada 
Nigeria ranks top with the highest number of students from Africa studying in the US, Rachel Canty Deputy Director, Students and Exchange Visitor Programme, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, says.
Canty, who made this known at the Foreign Press Centre International Reporting Tour of the US Community Colleges and Workforce Development programme in Washington D.C., said Nigeria has 16,039 students in the US.
The tour was organised by the Foreign Press Centre, Bureau of Public Affairs, US Department of State to provide foreign journalists with information on opportunity available to foreign students in community college in US.
Canty said: “Nigeria has continued to retain its top ranking as the number one source of African students studying in the US with over 16,000 students as at March pursuing their educational goals.
“There are over 36,000 students from Sub Saharan Africa studying in the US.
“As of March 2019, there are 16,039 students from Nigeria studying in the United States with 54 per cent male and 46 per cent female students.
“This is an increase of 3,342 students over 12,693 students recorded in November 2018.”
Canty said that undergraduate students constituted 34 per cent, Masters students was 36 per cent, Doctorate formed 12 per cent, while Associate was 12 per cent, non-degree and others formed five per cent.
According to her, the top five states for Nigerian students in the US are Texas with 2,713; California 856; Maryland, 827; New York 818; and Florida 753.
She said: “Students from Nigeria attend about 800 institutions in each of America’s 50 states.
The most popular state is Texas with 2,713 students, while the most popular college and university is Houston Community College with 220 students.”
Mathew Washburn, Programme Officer, Education USA, US Department of State, explained that the number of international students in the US in 2018 surpassed one million for the third consecutive year.
He said that the number increased by 1.5 per cent to reach a new high of 1,094,792 million in 2018, adding that US remained the top host of international students globally.
Washburn said: “International students made a significant financial impact on the United States in 2017, contributing $42.4 billion to the US economy through tuition, room and board and other expenses.”
According to him, 450,000 US jobs are supported by hosting international students on US campuses.
