For the first time in 15 years, the number of students from India in the US has surpassed that of Chinese students, making Indians the largest international student cohort in America in 2023-24, according to data from the Open Doors 2024 report.
There were 3.31 lakh Indian students and 2.77 lakh Chinese students in the US in 2023-24. While this is the lowest number of Chinese students in the US in about a decade (a lower figure of 2.74 lakh students was recorded in 2013-14), it is the highest number of Indian students in the US from at least 2000-01 onwards.
The number of Indian students in the US is now a little more than three times what it was a decade ago — 1.02 lakh in 2013-14.
According to data from the Open Doors 2024 report, Mathematics or Computer Science is the most popular field of study among Indian students in the US, with 42.9 per cent of the number of Indian students pursuing this field in 2023-24, which is a slight uptick from 41.2 per cent in 2022-23.
Engineering, which was more popular than Mathematics or Computer Science eight years ago, has seen a dip in recent years in terms of the percentage of Indian students choosing the field in the US, shows the report. In 2016-17, 36.2 per cent of Indian students in the US were doing engineering courses, compared to 35.4 per cent pursuing Math or Computer Science. In 2023-24, 24.5 per cent of Indian students were doing engineering, down from 26.9 per cent in 2022-23, and 29.6 per cent in 2021-22.
The report also shows that the number of Indian students pursuing postgraduate studies in the US saw an 18 per cent increase in 2023-24, compared to the previous year. This increase was smaller at around 13 per cent among undergraduate students. In contrast, China saw a dip in both postgraduate (2.58 per cent decrease) and undergraduate (12.75 per cent decrease) students in the US compared to 2022-23, it shows.
| YEAR | TOTAL INDIAN STUDENTS | TOTAL CHINESE STUDENTS | ||
| 2009/10 | 104,897 | 127,628 | ||
| 2010/11 | 103,895 | 157,558 | ||
| 2011/12 | 100,270 | 194,029 | ||
| 2012/13 | 96,754 | 235,597 | ||
| 2013/14 | 102,673 | 274,439 | ||
| 2014/15 | 132,888 | 304,040 | ||
| 2015/16 | 165,918 | 328,547 | ||
| 2016/17 | 186,267 | 350,755 | ||
| 2017/18 | 196,271 | 363,341 | ||
| 2018/19 | 202,014 | 369,548 | ||
| 2019/20 | 193,124 | 372,532 | ||
| 2020/21 | 167,582 | 317,299 | ||
| 2021/22 | 199,182 | 290,086 | ||
| 2022/23 | 268,923 | 2,89,526 | ||
| 2023/24 | 3,31,602 | 2,77,398 |
