November 16, 2020
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Contact: Alhassan Jalloh
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Study in the United States: Students from Sierra Leone pursue higher education
Freetown, SIERRA LEONE— Demonstrating the strong people-to-people and educational ties between the United States and Sierra Leone, the number of Sierra Leoneans studying in the United States continued to hold steady in the 2019-2020 academic year. The Institute for International Education (IEE) releases their Open Doors report annually during International Education Week, celebrated this year from November 16-20. The 2020 report shows that 199 Sierra Leonean students pursued higher education in the United States during the 2019-2020 academic year, an increase from the total of 188 Sierra Leonean students in 2018-2019.
According to the 2020 Open Doors Report, the United States hosted over 1 million international students for the fifth consecutive year. Sub-Saharan Africa continues to represent an area of growth, with 41,697 students in 2019-2020, marking a 3.5% increase over the prior year. Amidst declining numbers of international study in other regions, sub-Saharan Africa stands out for its percentage of growth.
Worldwide, more than half of all international students pursued majors in the STEM fields, while other popular fields of study include business and management, social sciences, health professions, and foreign language and international studies. For additional information on the 2020 Open Doors Report, please visit https://www.iie.org/Research-and-Insights/Open-Doors.
In the 2019-2020 academic year, Sierra Leonean students enrolled in more than 125 institutions in 36 U.S. states. The five most popular U.S. states for Sierra Leonean students were Maryland, Ohio, Massachusetts, New York, and Virginia.
Sierra Leoneans are invited to attend a sub-Saharan Africa virtual college fair hosted by EducationUSA. This event will take place on November 18 (undergraduate session) and November 19 (graduate session) from 12:00pm – 4:00pm. To register, please visit https://educationusa.state.gov/events/sub-saharan-africa-virtual-fair or follow the EducationUSA Africa Connection Facebook page @EducationUSAAfricaConnection for additional information.
