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IBNS-CMEDIA: The United States remains the number one higher education destination for Indian students, with studies showing that 69 per cent of Indian students prefer U.S. education to any other destination, a top official said on Thursday.
The U.S. Mission to India’s Consular Team interviewed more than 3,900 student visa applicants during the 8th Annual Student Visa Day across the country, including at the U.S. Consulate General Kolkata.
In a statement, US Envoy to India Eric Garcetti said: “Every international student on a U.S. campus represents tremendous accomplishment- years of study and hard work that went into preparing for academic excellence. Like those who went before, today’s Indian students also represent tremendous potential – the knowledge you will unlock, the new skills and opportunities you will experience, and the relationships you will build are worth the investment. Each student is an ambassador for India. Together we are taking the U.S.-India relationship forward.”
More than 100 students and their families participated in Student Visa Day activities at the U.S. Consulate in Kolkata.
Speaking to reporters, Consular General Melinda Pavek said: “Thousands of students from the East and Northeast will become part of the largest delegation of Indian students in history this year in the United States.”
She said: ” Indian students, already the largest group of international graduate students in the United States, gain valuable real-world experience, receiving employment-based US visas or becoming leaders in their fields here in India – reflecting the lifelong benefit of a U.S. education.”
She told the students that by joining the universities in the US, they are becoming the newest link in the thriving friendship between the two nations.
In 2023, the U.S. issued over 140,000 student visas in India, significantly more than in any other country.
During the 2022-2023 Academic Year, 270,000 Indians studied in the U.S.
Texas, New York, Illinois and Massachusetts remain the top US destinations for Indian students.
(Reporitng by Supriyo Hazra)
