The US Department of State Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) says Nigerians and other international students contributed $42.4-billion to the U.S. economy in 2017/2018 session.
A senior official of the Bureau, who spoke on condition of anonymity, announced this during the Tour of the U.S. Community Colleges and Workforce Development programme in Washington DC on Saturday.
The tour was organised by the Foreign Press Centre, Bureau of Public Affairs, US Department of State to provide foreign journalists with information on opportunities available to foreign students in community colleges in the States.
The official in an interview said there were 1,094,792 international students studying in the U.S. as of 2018 supporting more than 450,000 jobs in the country.
According to the official, the number of international students in the U.S. in 2018 surpassed one million for the third consecutive year.
Nigeria, according to the official, has continued to retain its top ranking as the number one source of African students studying in the U.S. with over 16,000 students as at March pursuing their educational goals.
“There are over 36,000 students from Sub Saharan Africa studying in the U.S.
“As of March 2019, there are 16,039 students from Nigeria studying in the United States with 54 per cent male and 46 per cent female students.
(NAN)