The top African country with the highest number of international students in the United States, as a whole for the continent there has been an increase over the last twenty years.
As of the 2015/16 school session, the total number of international students increased to over one million by 2015/16 and peaked at 1,095,299 in the 2018/19 school year.
According to a survey conducted by Spanish Studies Abroad, students from the African continent represented 4.5% of the total number in the 2019/2020 school year.
Study abroad by country over 10 years
The most populous countries in Africa had the highest numbers by nationality, along with a certain tendency toward countries that were British colonies such as Nigeria, Ghana, and Kenya.
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In the latest school year, among the Top 10 countries, 8 of them have shown growth compared to their numbers in 2010/11; only Kenya and Rwanda are exceptions. Nigeria’s growth in the number of students in the USA accounts for around half of the region’s growth over a 10-year period.
Below are the student numbers by nationality of all countries with more than 1000 students studying in the USA in 2019/2020
| Country | 2019/2020 |
|---|---|
| Nigeria | 13762 |
| Ghana | 4222 |
| Egypt | 3859 |
| Kenya | 3710 |
| Ethiopia | 2356 |
| South Africa | 2224 |
| Morocco | 1499 |
| Rwanda | 1444 |
| Zimbabwe | 1377 |
| Ivory Coast | 1257 |
| Democratic Rep. of the Congo | 1198 |
| Cameroon | 1027 |
Study abroad by country in 2019-2020
The survey concludes that Africa has seen both a growth in its interest in US education as well as the USA’s willingness to issue student visas.
“When data are available for the 2020/21 school year, there will be a lower number for the first time in nine years due to travel restrictions and limited consular services. Nevertheless, the data indicate that there is a growing demand for US education on the African continent and so numbers will likely rebound in upcoming years post-COVID,” the survey stated
The number of African students in universities in the United States will experience a decrease following the Covid-19 pandemic.
