The number of Indian students seeking higher education in the US witnessed a record high this year despite the Covid-19 pandemic.

In a media release, the US embassy here said the embassy and consulates had approved more student visa applicants in 2021 than ever before despite the global pandemic. More than 55,000 students and exchange visitors are boarding planes to study in the US and more students are being approved every day, the release added.

Usually, the embassies and consulates begin interviewing autumn semester students for a given year in May. This year, it was deferred to July because of the pandemic.

India witnessed a devastating second wave of Covid-19 between April and June.

“In July, as soon as conditions allowed for the resumption of visa services without endangering applicants’ health and safety, consular teams worked not only to match but surpass their pre-Covid workload. The US embassy and consulates opened additional hours for visa appointments and made every possible effort to ensure timely arrival for academic programmes for as many students as possible. Ultimately, these efforts paid off, as more students than ever before received visas to study in the United States,” the release said.

In the US, nearly 4,500 nationally and regionally accredited colleges and universities attract foreign students. Institutions admit students during the spring semester, between January and May, and the autumn semester, between September and December.

For Indians seeking to study abroad, institutions in the US have always remained the most preferred destination followed by those in Australia and the UK.