Number of Honduran and Brazilian Students in US Universities on the Rise

Honduras sends more students to the United States than any other country in Central America, according to the 2014 Open Doors Report on International Educational Exchange.

Published by the Institute of International Education in partnership with the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, the report reveals that the number of Honduran students enrolled in U.S. institutions of higher education increased by 16% this year, reaching a record of 1,756 — more than the number of students from Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Belize combined.

The number of Honduran students is highest in the U.S. states of Texas, Florida, New York, Georgia and Louisiana.

In recent years, scholarship programs in several Latin American countries have led their students to pursue STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) education in the United States. Thanks to scholarship programs, there were 8% more students from Latin America and the Caribbean this year.

The Brazilian government’s Scientific Mobility Program, for example, is financing the higher education of many Brazilians in the United States. This year more than 13,000 Brazilian students have moved into U.S. campuses, an increase of 22%.

The United States welcomes more foreign students every year than any other country in the world and, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce, international students’ spending contributed more than US$27 billion to the U.S. economy in 2013.

“The fastest growing student populations in the United States in 2013/14 were from Kuwait, Brazil, and Saudi Arabia, all countries whose governments are investing heavily in scholarships for international studies, to develop a globally competent workforce,” the report noted.

Meanwhile, more and more Americans are going abroad to study STEM subjects. Open Doors noted a 9% increase in American students studying overseas.

In Latin America, there was double-digit growth in the number of American students studying in Peru and Costa Rica. However, there were declines in the number of American students going to China, Australia, Argentina, India, Mexico, Ecuador, Israel, Chile, and New Zealand.