It’s not a one-way traffic any more, though Indian students constitute the largest group of foreign scholars in US, more and more Americans are also choosing India to pursue higher studies.

According to figures released on Monday, as many as 3,150 Americans came to India to study in the year 2007-08, which is a jump of nearly 20 per cent from the previous year. Overall, India ranked 17th in the list of the Open Doors 2009 topped by Britain with 33,333 students, Italy (30,670); Spain (25,212); France (17,336) and China (13,165).

American nationals heading towards India is in tune with the general trend witnessed in the US in the last few years; wherein the number of such students has been on the increase. The study showed that the number of American studying abroad has increased by 8.5 per cent to 262,416 in the 2007-08 academic year.

While the four countries that are perennial leaders in hosting US students – UK, Italy, Spain and France – are in Western Europe, Open Doors reported that fifteen of the top 25 destinations are outside of Western Europe and nineteen are countries where English is not the primary language.

In 2007-08, students electing to study in Africa increased by 18 per cent, those going to Asia increased by 17 per cent, and those going to Latin America increased by 11 per cent.

This latest increase builds on decades of steady growth, with four times as many US students participating in study abroad in 2007-08 than in 1987-88.

Notable increases among leading destinations were in the numbers students going to China, Ireland, Austria and India (up about 20 per cent) as well as Costa Rica, Japan, Argentina and South Africa (up nearly 15 per cent each).

Allan E Goodman, president and CEO of the Institute of International Education, said, “More students are eager to study in newly popular study destinations abroad such as China, India, and the Middle East.”

The language and cultural skills they acquire along with their academic experience will have a profound effect on their lives and careers. This growth is fuelled in part by new programme opportunities, strategic partnerships between higher education institutions in the US and abroad, a media statement said.