Fewer Hong Kong students to study in US this year as they flock to United Kingdom, Canada and Australia, data shows
- Top students still gravitate to US universities but others choose countries that give them citizenship, education consultant says
- American consulate for Hong Kong and Macau argues demand remains strong despite 30 per cent drop in numbers compared to 2019
The number of Hong Kong students pursuing studies in the United States during the first seven months of this year has fallen by 30 per cent compared with the same period in 2019, just before Covid-19 emerged in the city, official data shows.
While the American consulate for Hong Kong and Macau insisted demand remained strong, an education consultant on Friday said students were opting to study in countries that offered permanent residency following a shorter post-graduation period.
According to data from the US government, a total of 1,385 visas were granted to students from Hong Kong between January to July of this year.
The figure marked a 30 per cent drop from pre-pandemic levels, when 1,962 visas were granted to students from the city during the same period in 2019. A total of 304 and 1,621 visas were approved in 2020 and 2021, respectively.
In previous years, the number of US student visas granted would peak in July, one month before the American academic year started.
Authorities in the US announced last November that the country’s borders would be completely reopened to fully vaccinated foreign travellers, who had been limited to essential travel since March 2020.
A report by the US Department of Commerce from March had already spotted the trend, attributing the “slight decrease” in the overall number of students from Hong Kong during the 2020-2021 academic year to the coronavirus pandemic and concerns about public safety in the country.