More Colombians are studying post-graduate degrees in the United States than students from any other Latin American country, newspaper Portafolio reported Monday.
Colombia is 14th in the world in terms of the number of its citizens taking undergrad, post grad or doctorate programs in the U.S.
These figures are taken from reports conducted by the World Bank, the United Nation’s Program for Development, and Colfuturo, a non-profit organization which promotes and finances the training of Colombian professionals at postgraduate level overseas.
Colombian students are drawn to study in the U.S. in order to continue professional training on an international level, according to Colfuturo’s Executive Director Jeronimo Castro. He believes the numbers have also grown due to a large number of Colombians who immigrated to the U.S. in the ’90s and because higher education in the U.S. is recognized as high in quality.
Although U.S. universities are expensive, according to Castro they remain a popular choice because many offer scholarships, loans and opportunities for work-study to decrease tuition costs.
Of the Colombians who receive higher education in the states, only 16% remain to work there, while the remaining 84% return to Colombia with new skills such as English proficiency and an internationally-focused business education, according to Colfuturo.