According to new data from the Institute on International Education, in the 2015-16 academic year, there were 134,014 foreign scholars teaching at American colleges and universities. The number of foreign scholars was up more than 7 percent from the previous year. The vast majority of these foreign scholars are from either Europe or Asia.
In the 2015-16 academic year, there were 2,057 scholars from sub-Saharan African nations teaching at U.S. colleges and universities. This is up 3.4 percent from the prior year. Eight years ago there were 2,750 scholars from sub-Saharan Africa teaching at U.S. colleges and universities. Of all the foreign scholars teaching in the United States, only 1.5 percent are from sub-Saharan African nations.
Nigeria sent 462 scholars to teach in the U.S., more than any other sub-Saharan African nation. The number of Nigerian scholars teaching in the U.S. was up 17 percent from the previous year. South African ranked second with 222 scholars teaching in the U.S., down slightly from the year before. In all probability, some of these South African scholars are White.
Ghana was a close third with 218 scholars teaching in the United States. Ethiopia, Kenya, and Uganda were the only other sub-Saharan African nations that sent more than 100 scholars to teach at U.S. colleges and universities during the 2015-16 academic year.
Cameroon, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe each sent more than 50 scholars to teach in the United States.
