In the 2021/2022 academic year, 2.86 million students studied in UK's higher education institutions, with 680k (23.8%) being international students. Nigerians accounted for 44k (6.5%) of overseas students in the UK, trailing China's 151k (22.3%) and India's 126k (18.6%).
As of 2022, the US had 948,519 international students, 14,438 (1.5%) of whom were Nigerian. Nigeria was ranked tenth among contributing countries to the international student community in the US.
According to information provided by the West African Examinations Council, out of the 1.6 million candidates who took the WASSCE in 2023, 79.8% got at least five credits, including English language and mathematics, representing the highest percentage in the previous five years.
Since 2001, the 2022/23 academic year has recorded the highest number of Nigerians studying in US' higher institutions, adding 3,202 students to the previous academic year to reach 17,640. This represents the biggest addition in the time period.
Out of the 57.5k African students enrolled in US higher institutions for the 2022/23 academic year, nearly one-third — 17.6k (30.7%) — are from Nigeria. The numbers have steadily risen from 3.8k in the 2000/01 academic year.
Although Nigeria had the third highest number of learners on Coursera enroled in courses related to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) as of March 2023, the country had the highest year-on-year increase — almost double.
Five African countries were in the top ten increasing STEM learners on the e-learning platform.
What fields were Nigerian students in the US enroled in during the 2022/2023 academic year?
Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields took centre stage, collectively constituting a substantial 61% of the Nigerian student body.
