How many Nepali students are in the USA?

Author | December 20, 2019 | USA | No Comments

Every year many Nepali Students move to the USA for higher education. We all know that the US has the world’s top universities and is one of the dream destinations for students. So how many Nepali students are living the dream of studying in the USA?

Many Nepali get a chance of living in the USA by Diversity Visa (DV) Lottery offered by the USA. But not only DV, but many Nepali also move to the USA through the scholarship offered by different universities in the US and by the US embassy in Nepal. These scholarships are only offered for higher studies.

Normally, we might count any Nepali who moved to the US and studying there as Nepali Student or “foreign student for the US” or “international student for the US” but the definition of “foreign student” and “international student” varies in each country to their own national education system.

As per the definition of a foreign student by the US, any Nepali students who have acquired Green Card of USA won’t be counted as foreign students by the US. By the definition of the US, International students are individuals studying in the United States on a non-immigrant, temporary visa which allows for academic study at the post-secondary level. And the Immigrants, permanent residents, citizens, resident aliens (“Green Card” holders), and refugees are excluded from the definition of International Students.

Students from Nepal travel to the United States to take advantage of outstanding opportunities for both educational and professional development. Nepalese students study hard to pursue the scholarship provided by the USA. That also needs careful financial planning and an academic record that reflects good grades and test scores.

In Nepal, there are mainly literate unemployed and illiterate unemployed. And the student visa is provided to the literate manpower who try for the visa for getting higher education to be continued along with the better income.

The Nepali students like to go to America and almost on the average of more than a thousand students flies to America for higher education every year. America is the largest education hub in a world where there are services of taking and studying more than 2500 different courses. It depends upon your choices which you want to join and achieve and can switch from almost any course.

Mostly, the Nepali students go to America for their higher education such as bachelor’s degrees and master’s degree. There are also many students who are not aware of this structure to go to America. For Nepalese people, it is one of the easiest ways to go to America and to fulfill their American Dreams of studying in a reputed college in the world.

The student visa program is an easy way to go to America which gives sweet in both hands; the first one is you get better education while others, on the other hand, you can earn the money better for your advanced lifestyles.

Related: Nepali Student – Cost of Living in the US

How many Nepali Students are studying in the USA?

The Institute of International Education (IIE) has published the 2018 Open Doors Report on International Educational Exchange data with the help of the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs in November 2018.

The report published the data of all the foreign students or international students currently studying in the US with a student visa in 2018, the report also includes the number of Nepali students currently studying in the United States.

Open Doors Reports are published by IIE, supported by a grant from the Department of State’s Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs. The Department of State’s Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs provides a comprehensive information resource on international students and scholars studying or teaching at higher education institutions in the United States and also provides data on the U.S. students studying abroad for academic credit at their home colleges or universities.

The Open Doors data are used by the U.S. embassies, the Departments of State, Commerce, and Education, and U.S. colleges and universities to inform policy decisions about educational exchanges, trade-in educational services and study abroad activity. Annually, to mark the start of International Education Week, the Institute of International Education (IIE) publishes the Open Doors 2018 data on November 13th, 2018 this year.

The Open Doors report releases the statistics and trends regarding international students enrolled in U.S. colleges and universities during the 2017/18 academic year. And also released the number of U.S. students who studied abroad for academic credit at their home institutions during the 2016/17 academic year.

According to the report published by IIE, the number of Nepali students studying in the United States has increased by 14.3 % over the previous year. The number of Nepali students in the United States has increased significantly.

Year	2015/16	2016/17	2017/18
Nepali Students	9,662	11,602	13,270

Nepal is now the country that has the highest growth rate in sending students to the US. And have reached in the list of the top 25 sending countries. The number of Nepali students has also increased to a record level, totaling 13,270 students arrival of Nepali students in the USA to study. With the report of 2018, this is the third year in a row to see the growth in the number of Nepali students arriving in the USA. Nepal now ranks at 10th position among the top 25 countries for sending undergraduate students in the U.S. Last year Nepal was at 12th position in the list.

The data provided here on Nepali students studying in the US is only of the Nepalese citizens who have traveled to the USA in a student visa and do not have the green card of the US. And also this data doesn’t include Nepalese American who were born as American or acquired United States of America’s citizenship.

In the academic year 2017-2018, U.S. colleges and universities hosted more than one million international students which are now for the third consecutive year. The US reached a record level of 1.09 million students this year which also marks the 12th consecutive year of continued expansion.

Similarly, the number of Americans studying in Nepal has also significantly increased by 57 % in comparison to the previous year data of American students studying in Nepal. The collaboration of governments, institutions, and student exchange programs have played a vital role in stimulating growth over the years in both countries that is Nepal and the US.

According to Open Door reports published by IIE in 2017 November, there were 1,078,882 international students studying in the United States. Out of which 11,607 students were from Nepal in 2017. It was a 20.1% increase from the previous year. Nepal ranked at the 13th largest country of origin of international students in the United States in 2017 and in 2018 it has reached to 10th position in the top 25 countries sending undergraduate students to the US.

(Data Source: Open Doors 2017 and 2018 Report on International Educational Exchange, New York: Institute of International Education, New York).

Related: Nepalese American: Facts and Statistics

Why Study In The USA?

There are many great reasons for students to choose to study in the United States. If you’re also looking for a few more reasons, here are the reasons why a Nepali student would like to study in the US.

Top Ranking Institutions

The US has the top ranking colleges in the world. The majority of top-ranking colleges in the world are in the USA. These universities and colleges rank high in world ranking because of their advancement in infrastructure, technological and quality of education offered by them.

The best thing about the US education system is that it allows one to learn as well as earn. These Institutions not only gives knowledge of the subjects but also teach students to have a practical & professional approach.

Flexibility

It would be difficult to find a wide range of courses in the world than that you can get in the US. The US education system can be termed as most flexible in terms of choice of courses within a college or university.

A student in the US can transfer from one stream to another or one institution to another in the course of study. This makes the educational system in the US very much distinct from other countries.

Affordable

Most of the Nepali student’s dream destinations for higher studies can be the US. The US is the most popular destination for students from all over the world. International students choose to study in the USA because American education is the best plan for their future.

And with the scholarships, assistantship, etc that one can get can be a great financial help to students. And at the same time, students are allowed to work 20hr/wk during their course and 40hr/wk during vacation which helps them to earn and learn together easily.

Technical Institutes

The Technical Institutes in the US are schools emphasizing principally on engineering and science. These institutions are well known for their research and graduate programs. Mostly the graduate-level international students attend these schools in the US. And the undergraduates who admit in these schools have incredibly strong backgrounds in math and sciences.

They must have performed well with high grades and standardized test scores in tests exams like the SAT or GRE. Various institutions which are popular for technical education are M.I.T. (the Massachusetts Institute of Technology), Cal Poly (California Polytechnic Institute), NYIT New York Institute of Technology), Georgia Tech (Georgia Institute of Technology), W.P.I. (Worcester Polytechnic Institute), etc are few of the popular institutions in the US.

The IVY League

Ivy League schools are the oldest and most famous in the country members of the Ivy League. The IVY league colleges are Harvard, Yale, Columbia, Princeton, Brown, Dartmouth, Cornell, and the University of Pennsylvania.

These schools are in the Northeastern part of the USA. Ivy League colleges stress undergraduate liberal arts education. But they also have graduate and professional schools in the US. The Tuition fees at these private schools are among the highest in the US. And generally, the admission in these institutes are highly competitive.

Quality

The Universities and colleges in the United States are world popular for their quality of education. There are some of the world’s finest colleges and universities in the US.

Most of the reputed colleges of the world for quality programs, faculty, facilities, and resources are in the US. We all know that the U.S. higher education accreditation systems are in place to ensure the quality standards of their educational institutions.

Technology and Research

The USA is well known for the advancement of its latest technologies. It is one of the most advanced countries in technical fields which gives the student a very good chance to make their future in these fields.

The USA is also known as the hub of inventions. Students, therefore, would like to have the first-hand knowledge about cutting edge technologies coupled with excellent research opportunities.

Choice

The US offers the world’s largest choice in education systems. There are numerous institutions, academic and social environments, entry requirements, degrees, and fields of study in the US offered by the various educational system. There are more than 4,000 institutions of higher education in the United States.

Value

We all know that a U.S. degree can work as an investment for the future. A US degree offers great value for the money. Various institutions provide a wide range of fees and costs, as well as some excellent scholarships, are available from different colleges and universities.

Education as well as Financial support

It is all know that the US is the world’s largest country to provide job opportunities. Students going on a student visa can also work to get financial support for affording the cost of living in the USA.

Related: Nepalese American: Facts and Statistics

How International Students arrive in the US?

Most of the international students in the US arrive in the United States with the help of the Institute of International Education (IIE). The IIE serves as a medium for thousands of students from various countries of the world to make it possible for them to study in the USA. More than 29,000 people in 180 countries each year are benefited from international education programs with the help of IIE.

This institute has served as a lifeline to the world’s most imperiled students, scholars, and artists to study in various countries. It has also provided help to educate the next generation of leaders and create a new future.

The United States, in this international education program, serves as the top host of international students globally. The hosting of the US to the international students also helped the US financially as International students pay tuition fees and other payments while residing in the US.

The Institute of International Education (IIE) also publishes an annual report on the statistical survey of the Open Doors Report on international students in the United States. Since 1972, the Institute of International Education (IIE) and in partnership with the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) has been publishing the statistical survey report on international students annually in the month of November.