Nigeria has the highest number of undergraduate students in the United States with about 13,000 Nigerians studying there every year, Assistant Cultural Affairs Officer, US Embassy, Malia Heroux, has said.
Heroux said that 39,000 students from Africa studied in the US every year, noting that Nigerian students represented one-third of all African students studying in the country.
She disclosed this in Abuja on Wednesday, while speaking during the US Embassy 2019 Education USA College fair with the theme “Solidifying Connections and Exploring New Frontiers.”
The cultural officer said there were no specific targets for the number of students who study in the US every year from Nigeria, adding that studying in the US was voluntary.
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She further said that all Education USA officials advised about 81,000 students across Nigeria on the benefits of studying in the US last year through emails, skype, messages, and phone calls.
According to Heroux, the high population of Nigerian students in the US did not mean that Nigerian educational institutions were not living up to expectations.
She said, “There is a wide variety of programmes being offered in both the US and Nigeria, including linkages between universities in the America and Nigeria.
“We also have a lot of graduate students looking to go after they have completed their undergraduate education here.”
Heroux revealed that the US extended scholarship of almost $9 million to Nigerians in 2018.
Deputy Chief of Mission of the Embassy, Ms Kathleen FitzGibbon, said Nigeria recorded nearly 10 per cent increase in the number of those studying in the US. (PUNCH)
