Bangladeshi students in US reach all-time high, says report

The number of students from Bangladesh studying in the United States increased to 8,249 during the most recent academic year - 2018/2019, according to the 2019 Open Doors Report on International Educational Exchange, reports UNB.

This is an all-time high for Bangladesh, reflecting a 10 per cent increase over the 2018 report and more than tripling since 2009, said the US embassy in Dhaka on Monday in celebration of International Education Week (IEW), a joint US Department of State and US Department of Education initiative from 18-22 November.

The Embassy said Bangladesh is among the fastest-growing countries of origin for international students in the United States.

It now ranks 20th in the world for countries sending students to the United States for higher education, and the only country on the top 25 list to have a double-digit increase since the 2018 report.

Bangladesh’s increase is the highest in the South Asian region. Out of total 8,249 Bangladeshi students studying in the United States, 5,278 study at the graduate level; a 13.5 per cent increase over 2017/2018 academic year.

Nearly 75 per cent of Bangladeshi students currently on US campuses study STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) fields.

Of them, over 40 per cent (40.4 pc) study Engineering, nearly 18 per cent (17.7 pc) Math/Computer Science, and over 15 per cent (15.3 pc) Physical or Life Sciences.

Nearly eight per cent (7.8 percent) study Business/Management.

For the past four years, US colleges and universities have hosted more than one million international students, reaching a record high of 1,095,299 this school year.

This also marks the 13th consecutive year of continued expansion of the total number of international students in the US higher education system.

Promoting educational exchanges between Bangladesh and the United States is a strategic priority for US Embassy Dhaka.

The Embassy said, “International education exchanges benefit both our nations and peoples, boosting intellectual and cross-cultural capital as well as business and professional networks, and helping prepare students to enter the global job markets and solve the world’s toughest challenges.”