America continues to grow in stature as the most-favoured destination for Indian students with the last seven months showing a 38% increase in the number of candidates going there.

What's more, Chennai seems to be one of the largest exporters in the country.
Sample this: 38,274 student visas were issued from across the country in fiscal year 2006-07 (October 2006 to September 2007), of which the Chennai consulate gave out 19,973.

Correspondingly, between October 2007 and April 2008, 50,316 student visas were issued from across the country, of which the Chennai consulate alone accounted for 24,975. With a rising middle class in India able to afford American university programmes and schools actively recruiting them, Indians have become the largest group of international students in the US.

Experts point that the increase in the flow of Indian students could also be reasoned to America now accepting the three-year bachelor degree programme as a valid one for entry to their graduate schools.

Earlier, the US accepted students in its graduate schools only after they completed 16 years of formal education (12+4). Indian students were required to study one year of post-graduation before they could take any entrance test to American universities.
The change in rule was targeted towards opening the doors of higher studies in American varsities to a massive Indian pool of BA, BCom, BSc degree holders.

According to the data released in November 2007, the international student population in the US rose from 5.64 lakh in 2005-'06 to 5.83 lakh in 2006-'07. And for the sixth year in a row, Indian students accounted for the largest chunk.

Following a 5% drop last year, the flow of Indian students to the US has gone up by 10% in this academic season. According to a recent survey that monitors student flow, the population of Indian students in the US went up by 10% from 76,503 in 2005-'06 to 83,833 in 2006-'07; the number has doubled in the last decade.