US Turn Out To Be Top Destination For International Students - September 2014,02 

The US has rolled out to be a top 

destination across the world for higher 

studies. The hundreds and thousands of 

students from all over the globe come to 

US to study engineering and business. 

Brookings Institution has revealed a report that showed that over 819,644 overseas students pursued their higher education in the US in the academic year 2012-2013. Among those students, highest percentage of undergraduates holding F-1 visas were enrolled in business, marketing or management fields, who represented 32.4%, and 11.5% of students were accounted for engineering field.

The number of overseas students has increased severely. Previously, there were a total of 110,000 F-1 visa holders in the US.  However, in these present years the figures has augmented up to 524,000, which is nearly five times compared to the previous year’s figure.

The main source of students moving to the US on F-1 visas, are from China i.e. nearly one-fourth of all international students. India occupies second place with 15% and South Korea occupies third place with 10%.

All the students who came to study in the US will not return to their homeland after their education. Instead they participate in the Optional Practical Training (OPT) program. The F-1 visa holders can apply for a job in the US in their individual stream through OPT program, after the completion of their graduation.

Students who were enrolled in the fields such as science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) are permitted to stay in the US for 29 months, even after completing their graduation, whereas non-STEM student graduates are restricted to stay for 12 months. Last year, under the OPT program, there were approximately 100,000 workers in the US.