By Prince Okafor

Acting Public Affairs Officer, United States Consulate, Lagos, Frank Selin, has said that Nigeria has one of the biggest group of students studying in United State.

Selin, who made this known at the Pre-departure Orientation Program in Lagos, for Nigerians leaving to study in the US, said: “The essence of the program is to ensure that we provide the students with certain information to prepare them for united state.

“Things they need to know about how to study, how to interact with professors and students, what they need to know about American culture.” He explained that the US, wants to ensure easy landing for the student into the US, to enhance success in their studies.

“Automatically, this is about setting Nigerian students for success, they done the hard work of applying and consultation,” he added.

Meanwhile, Ilemona Ameadaji, a 200 level student of the University of California, Berkeley, commenting on her experience, said “It’s was a big change for me, it was extremely academically challenging getting used to the system of education there, as well as culture shock, new custom and new system of doing things.”

Comparing the teaching standard between Nigeria and the US, she stated “Here in Nigeria, we don’t really have student services. There is no department geared at helping students succeed in university. Professors here are not so accessible on like in the US.”

“Although the cost was somewhat high, around $50, 000, compared to what am getting here it’s very okay, but I would have prefered getting here through scholarship,” she stated. Vanguard gathered that about 85 students will be departing by August to study in the US.

In a statement made available to Vanguard, Out of the 974, 926 international students in the United States, 33, 593, come from Sub-Saharan Africa, and Nigeria ranks first in the region. There are 9, 494 students from Nigeria studying in the united states, of which 50.2 percent are undergraduates, 35 percent are graduates, 2 percent are non-degree candidates, and the remaining 12.6 percent are spending one year on optional practical training.

The report also gathered that In addition, Nigeria sent 67 students to intensive English programs and about 60 research scholar to the United States last year. Of the 974, 926 international students in the United States, 33, 593, comes from Sub-Saharan Africa, and Nigeria ranks first in the region.