Increasingly large numbers of Ghanaian students are choosing the United States as their undergraduate and graduate study destination of choice, according to the 2023 Open Doors Report published yeseerday.
More than 6,400 Ghanaian students studied in the United States during the 2022-2023 academic year, representing a 31 percent jump over the last academic year. The Open Doors Report is published annually by the Institute of International Education (IIE), analysing the number of international students in the United States.
“US colleges and universities offer world-class educational opportunities and Ghanaian students in the United States are deepening the ties of friendship, family and business between our countries. We are so happy to see Ghanaians seeking to learn, develop their skills, and return to benefit their communities in Ghana,” said the US Ambassador to Ghana, Virginia Palmer.
Ghana is now in the top-25 countries worldwide for sending students to the United States. According to the 2023 Open Doors Report, a total of 6,468 Ghanaians studied in the United States in 2022-2023 – an increase of 31.5 percent and an all-time record. Ghanaians in graduate degree programmes totalled 4,140 – a 38 percent increase over last year, making Ghana the 14th-largest sender of graduate students to the United States. Last year, Ghanaian students earned nearly US$9million in scholarships to more than 700 higher educational institutions in all 50 states. To help meet this growing demand, the US Embassy processed a record number of student visa cases in the last fiscal year.
The United States remains the top destination for international students with over one million (1,057,188) international students in academic year 2022-2023, which is a 12 percent increase over the previous year. The majority of international students in the United States study in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) fields; math and computer science continued to grow as the leading field of study for international students in 2022/23.
This year, U.S. Embassy Ghana hosted the two largest EducationUSA college fairs ever held in Ghana, at Accra and Kumasi, which attracted more than 13,000 students, parents and academic professionals.
The US Embassy guides qualified individuals to be successful applicants to US colleges and universities through EducationUSA, the US Department of State’s network of education advisers. Ghana currently has two EducationUSA Advising Centres – at the U.S. Embassy in Accra and at ACE Consult in Asokwa, Kumasi.
EducationUSA Advisors work with students in-person and virtually to enhance understanding of the college or university application process for successful applications. Over the last year, EducationUSA advisers from the Accra and Kumasi- based centres helped thousands of Ghanaian students apply for admissions to hundreds of accredited US institutions of higher learning.
