MUMBAI: Though the US is still a much-favoured destination for Indian students, the percentage of increase in fresh enrolments by Indians halved in 2016-2017 to 12.3% from almost 25% the previous year, according to the latest Open Doors survey conducted by the Institute of International Education. The year 2014-15 too had seen robust growth of 29.4%.In global terms, the US saw a decline in fresh enrolments this year, with nearly 10,000 fewer candidates signing up; the new student count of about 2.9 lakh represents a 3% decrease from the previous year.For the third year in a row, the largest growth came from India, primarily at the graduate level and in optional practical training (OPT), which is temporary employment linked to a student’s area of study (eligible students can receive up to 12 months of OPT before and/or after completing studies). The Indian student population in the US is now 1.86 lakh.About 22,000 Indian students in the US are undergraduate students (13.9% increase over the previous year), 1.05 lakh graduate students (3% rise), 57,132 doing their OPT (35%) and 2,259 who have enrolled for non-degree courses (a fall of 7.3%).China sends the most students to the US, followed by India. But India’s rate of growth has still outpaced China’s (which is at 6.8%). Students from these two countries now represent almost 50% of the total enrolment of international students in the US. While overall fresh enrolment has fallen, the number of international students studying on American campuses has increased.For the second consecutive year, US colleges and universities hosted more than 1 million international students, thereby reaching 1.08 million. The factors driving the slowing of growth include a mix of global and local economic conditions, and in some cases, expanded higher education opportunities at home and declining populations, stated the press statement from the IIE on the survey.“Much of the increase reported for the past couple of years can be attributed to more students pursuing OPT related to their academic fields after their degree studies in the US.These flattening trends have a nearly two-year history, as students reflected in the current Open Doors report were already on campus in September 2016 for the fall term, and most had applied in 2015 and made their decisions in spring 2016.While this year’s Open Doors report shows strong growth in the number of international students studying in the US in the past decade, with an increase of 85% since 2006/07 the new findings signal that the increase is 3% compared to increases of 7% to 10% for the previous three years.US consul general Edgard Kagan said on Monday that a 12.3% rise in the number of Indians going to the States is still “pretty good” despite being half of last year’s growth rate of almost 29%.“I am pleasantly surprised, because I kept hearing, it will be low, it will be low, it will be low,” Kagan said during an interaction at The Times of India. “That being said, we would like it to be more.”According to US Consulate General Mumbai’s consular chief Michael Evans, the Mumbai US visa office issued more than 17,000 student visas in 2016.