Africa: 56,780 is the number of students from sub-Saharan Africa enrolled in higher education institutions in the United States

56,780 is the number of students from sub-Saharan Africa enrolled in higher education institutions in the United States for the 2023/2024 academic year, an increase of 13.1% compared to the previous year.

The information comes from the Open Doors report published on Monday, November 18 by the Institute for International Education (IIE) and the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the US Department of State.

This annual publication reviews international mobility in the USA.

This increase is driven by Nigeria, which shows an increase of 13.5%. The West African country sent 20,029 students to the USA, ranking it as the first African origin of students and 7th worldwide.

These Nigerian students spent a total of 790 million USD for their studies in Uncle Sam’s country.

Ghana, on the other hand, shows the biggest increase. The country went from 6,468 to 9,394 students sent, or +45.2%. South Africa (2,814), Kenya (4,507), Uganda (1,303), Zimbabwe (1,907), the Democratic Republic of Congo (1,738) and Ivory Coast (1,138) also show an increase.

Cameroon, on the other hand, shows a decrease of 9%, going from 1,086 students sent last year to 981 this year.

Sub-Saharan African students in the USA are mainly enrolled in science, engineering, technology and mathematics fields.

The 2nd cycle courses are the most popular with 25,820 students enrolled in Master’s degree compared to 21,083 in 1st cycle. The other students are generally enrolled in professional and certification training.

For the 2nd consecutive year, sub-Saharan Africa remains the region of origin of students in mobility in the USA with the fastest growth, after an increase of 18.1% in 2023.

This increase is explained in particular by the intensification of communication and the increase in study programs in Africa.

It should be noted, however, that Asia remains the leading region of origin of foreign students in the USA. Led by India (331,602), it has a total of 805,238 nationals enrolled in American higher education institutions.

Europe comes in 2nd place with 90,600 students, with the United Kingdom (10,659) as leader. Latin America and the Caribbean have 85,891 students.

The Middle East/North Africa region remains stable with 52,292 students. This number is driven by Saudi Arabia, which alone has just under a third of the region’s students in mobility in the USA.

Oceania (6,879) is the region with the fewest students enrolled in the United States.

The USA remains the leading host country for international students. This year, the country welcomed 1,126,680 international students, which is a historic record.