International students of Andhra University prepare to cook food at their hostel kitchen at MVP Colony in Visakhapatnam on Saturday. , Photo Credit: KR Deepak
Andhra University (AU) is set to reach the 1,000-mark in admission of international students. The oldest state university of Andhra Pradesh has so far admitted 988 students from around 54 countries to various undergraduate, postgraduate and PhD programmes. It is probably the only state university in South India where maximum international students from more than 50 countries are studying.
In the current 2022-23 academic year, the university has enrolled 335 students, the highest in its history, and is going to cross the `1000 plus’ benchmark in the next academic year, said EN Dhanamajaya Rao, Dean of International Affairs. Is.
He said that 77 of them are pursuing B.Tech, 22 M.Tech/MCA, 23 PhD in Engineering, 54 PhD in Arts, 16 MBA, 24 BBA and 35 B.Pharmacy.
“To improve the strength, we are trying our best to provide hostel facilities with single rooms which have facilities like own kitchen and a fridge in every room as many international students prefer to stay in single rooms. The convenience of self-cooking is due to their eating habits which are not in sync with each other. We are showcasing AU at various international forums by participating in international educational fairs, dealing with students’ issues to resolve them in a single window manner, and orientation of international students towards Indian society, culture and traditions, etc. There are some attempts to attract AU to the students” told by Mr. Dhanamjay Rao Hindu,
The admission of international students helps AU earn around ₹20 crore per year. Quality education with affordable fee structure is an advantage for the students.
“We are already trying to attract students from USA and Canada by introducing new curriculum and quality education wherein students will spend one year at AU and rest of the course duration in their home countries,” Mr. Rao he said.
Afghanistan has the highest enrollment so far with 126 students, followed by Ethiopia at 85, Nepal at 55, Sudan at 50, Angola at 55 and Swaziland at 40. A total of 833 regular students and 155 online students are studying at AU .
“Now our focus will be on Southeast Asian countries like Cambodia, Vietnam, Indonesia and Myanmar. SAARC countries like Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal and Sri Lanka. African countries like Sudan, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia, Angola, Uganda and Tanzania where AU has already built a brand image,” said Mr. Rao.