The US continues to be a highly sought-after destination for Vietnamese students.
Tuoi Tre, quoted an annual report by US-based Institute of International Education when sharing that in the 2017-2018 school year, Vietnamese is the sixth most populous group of international students in the US. The ranking is the same as last year, though this time there are 1,887 more Vietnamese students studying in US institutes for a total of 24,325 students.
The study, called Open Doors, provides information on various aspects of abroad students at higher education institutions in the US. In 2018, China continues to top the list of international students with 363,341 individuals, followed by India, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Canada and Vietnam.
The number of Vietnamese students in the US has been steadily increasing in the last 17 years. A small portion of students hold scholarships from US colleges, but the rest paid for an education out of their own pocket — or rather, their family’s pocket. Last year, Vietnamese students shelled out a total of US$881 million for US education.
According to Open Doors, of the 24,325 Vietnamese students in the US, 69.6% are in undergraduate programs, 15.2% undertake postgraduate studies, 8.6% are taking optional practical training (OPT), and the rest are in non-degree courses.
Interestingly, the report also takes into account the other direction of education migration, showing that in the 2016-2017 school year, 1,147 US students also studied in Vietnamese institutions, a 13.3% year-on-year increase.
The top 10 most popular states for international students are California, New York, Texas, Massachusetts, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Florida, Ohio, Michigan and Indiana - each amongst the nation's most populous states. In total, US schools welcomed 1,094,792 international students in the 2017-2018 school year who make up 5.5% of all higher education students in the country.
[Photo via Creative Commons]
