Sunday, July 3 2005 11:52 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Chennai: More than one lakh Indian students apply for admission to US universities every year, contributing more than $1.5 billion to the American economy.

"There was a seven per cent increase in the number of Indian students at 79,736 last year and India is the leading country of origin for sending students to US universities for the last three years," said a report of F1study.com, a website founded by Indian software professionals.

The number of Indian students in America is steadily increasing and more than one lakh of them are applying for admission to US universities. They are contributing more than $one billion (about Rs 6,000 crore) per year to the economy.

It said the US was the most attractive country for international students, with over 5,00,000 students joining universities there every year.

"The reasons given by the foreign students to pursue their studies in the USA included excellent academics, research, flexibility in course curriculum, financial assistance, work programmes, internships, job opportunities, cultural exchange and reorganisation of international students," said F1study.com.