Number of Turkish Students in US Rose 4.4% in 2021/22 Academic Year

Number of Turkish students in the United States increased by 4.4 percent over the past year, the highest increase in more than 10 years, the US Mission in Türkiye said in a press release, citing the 2022 Open Doors Report.

The report released by the Institute of International Education (IIE) shows that 8,467 Turkish students were enrolled at US higher education institutions during the 2021/22 academic year, from 8,109 in the previous year, Erudera.com reports.

“Thanks to the breadth and variety of education programs in the United States, any student can find a program that fits his or her needs. We welcomed the increase in Turkish students in the 2021-22 academic year. We want more Turkish students to be able to benefit from U.S. education,” US Ambassador to Turkey Jeffry Flake said.

According to the Open Doors report, Turkey is an important source for international students in the United States. In 2021/22, the country was the third-highest number of students from Europe, the US Mission in Türkiye said.

“These figures represent the continuing strong partnership between the United States and Türkiye. Educational opportunities strengthen people-to-people ties and form a strong foundation for our robust trade relationship,” the US Mission in Türkiye said in a statement posted on its website.

Differently, in 2020/21, only 12 students from the United States went to Turkey to study, a drop from 160 a year earlier.

Overall,the number of international students in the United States increased by 4 percent last year, after experiencing a drop amid the COVID-19 pandemic, to 948,519 students.

China and India remain the top sources of origin for international students in the US, accounting for 52 percent of all international students. Chinese students accounted for 31 percent of the student body, whereas Indian students represented 21 percent of all international students in the US.

Other countries sending most students to the United States are South Korea, Canada, Vietnam, Taiwan, Saudi Arabia, Brazil, Mexico, Nigeria, and more.

In the 2020/21 academic year, US institutions saw a drop of 15 percent in the number of international students, to 914,095 from 1,075,496 in 2019/20.

Turkey is also known as a popular country for international students who go there to pursue education. Earlier this year, Culture and Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy announced that more than 165,000 international students from 171 countries submitted applications for “Türkiye Scholarships,” funded by the Turkish government.

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