Nigeria Has 12th Highest Number of Foreign Students in US, Says Envoy

Vincent Obia
United States Consul General F. John Bray disclosed yesterday in Lagos that Nigeria had the highest number of students from sub-Saharan Africa studying in the US and ranked 12th among the over one million foreign students in the country. Bray spoke at the Consulate General in Lagos during a pre-departure orientation for Nigerian students heading to US to study.

He said 35,364 of the international students in the US were from sub-Saharan Africa.
According to Bray, “There are currently 11,710 students from Nigeria studying in the United States. 49.5 per cent undergraduate; 36.2 per cent graduate students, 2 per cent are non-degree candidates, and the remaining 12.3 per cent are on Optional Practical Training.

“Compared to last year, this represents a 9.7 per cent increase.  The number of Nigerians studying in the US has been going up for the past seven years.”
He said students from Nigeria attended about 800 institutions in each of America’s 50 states. “The most popular state is Texas, with 1,540 students, while the most popular college/university is Houston Community College, with 220 students.”

Bray said the US Department of State had granted scholarships to about 250 Nigerian students from the Lagos centre of its EducationUSA programme to study at institutions in the US. He explained that EducationUSA was a US Department of State network of over 425 international student advising centres in more than 175 countries promoting higher education in America to students around the world by offering accurate, comprehensive, and current information about opportunities to study at any of the over 4,700 accredited post-secondary institutions in the US.

“EducationUSA is your official source on US higher education,” the consular general stated. “To date, about 250 student-members of the Lagos EducationUSA Center studying at U.S. institutions in the fall of 2018, have received scholarships from US institutions totalling over $4 million.”

He added, “One-12th grader got a full ride scholarship to Harvard to study Political Science. Many of the graduate students with whom EducationUSA worked were admitted to fully funded doctoral programs in the STEM fields.

“Six Opportunity Fund Program grantees will be going for their fully funded PhD programs in STEM fields.
“I am very proud of EducationUSA Lagos for reaching approximately 25,000 students this year, through various means, such as at the centre, on-line, at fairs, etc. information on studying in the US (Source: EducationUSA Lagos).”

Related Articles