 |
|
Sunday,Aug 16,2009
On The Blues Scene!
For those with an eye for entertainment, here’s some news about our most exciting and entertaining up and com....
By Kerrie Braithwaite
|
 |
Friday,Jan 30,2009
University of Nigeria Alumni Association (UK branch): Inaugural Meeting
The inaugural meeting of University of Nigeria (UK branch) takes place: Date: Saturday, January 31 2009. ....
By University of Nigeria Alumni Association (UK Branch)
|
 |
Monday,Dec 15,2008
How sugar began to taste as bitter and as sour as Agrimony Herbs
That morning, the rain forest woke up with songs. By noon the Atlantic flourished in its hoary and azure under the ....
By Konye Obaji Ori
|
 |
Tuesday,Dec 09,2008
'Kisimusi'
Alas, it was dawn. The roosters had already started their usual morning concerto, creating a sound so piercing that....
By Nigel Chikukwa
|
 |
Tuesday,Nov 11,2008
Great Lions & Lionesses!! Inaugural Meeting of the University of Nigeria Alumni Association (UK branch)
All lions & lionesses resident or visiting the UK are invited to the inaugural meeting of the above association....
By Dr Jideofor Adibe
|
 |
Wednesday,Oct 10,2007
Opened Eyes, Opened Hearts: Three Students Share Their Experiences In South Africa
Biological beauty. The sense of pride in family and country. Racial turmoil. Westernization. ....
By Rachel Boury
|
 |
Friday,Sep 14,2007
Memoirs of A Traveller
I had thought that I had lost my muss until I embarked on my return trip to Port Harcourt from Abuja (My 2 week hol....
By Nwanze Ngozi Lilian
|
 |
Monday,Aug 20,2007
Of Bar Finals, the War in Port Harcourt, the New Minister for Works and My Choir
My exams were fine thank you (I did not get even one fan mail to ask me why I had not written in a while.. Is that ....
By Nwanze Ngozi Lilian
|
 |
Friday,Jul 13,2007
Put Jokes Aside
Ironically, though Chief Adeniyi boasted of a happy marriage to his Igbo wife, he had a string of mistresses to pro....
By Sophie Kiwelu
|
 |
Wednesday,Jul 11,2007
My Red Button
Pelu is screaming again. I am not surprised though I wonder what it is this time around. I reluctantly roll out of ....
By Jumoke Giwa
|
 |
|
|
Overrepresentation of Kenyan Students in Colleges and Universities in the United States: An Unscientific Examination
By:
Amadu Jacky Kaba, Ph.D
|
|
Amadu Jacky Kaba is an Assistant Professor at the Graduate Department of Public and Healthcare Administration, Seton Hall University, USA.
|
|
Introduction
Compared to the other 52 independent African nations, Kenya appears to have a special relationship with the United States. One clear example of this special relationship between Kenya and the United States is the unusually high proportion of Kenyan students enrolled in colleges and universities in the United States. For example, of the 37,724 African students enrolled in colleges and universities in the United States in 2001/2002, Kenyan students comprised 7,097 (18.8%). Of the 15,331 East African students from 19 countries enrolled during that same period, Kenya’s 7,097 students accounted for almost half (47%) of that total.[1] What makes this unusual is that Kenya does not have the largest population in the continent. It in fact accounts for only 32 million out of 874 million Africans in July 2004 on the Continent. Nigeria as of July 2004 had the largest population of 137 million, followed by Egypt with 76 million, Ethiopia 68 million and the Democratic Republic of Congo, 56 million.
Nor do Kenyans contribute the highest proportion of African immigrants in the United States. According to Okoth (2003), as of 2001, there were 47,000 Kenyans in the United States.[2] According to the United States Census Bureau, as of the year 2000, there were an estimated 881,300 African immigrants in the United States. The 134,940 Nigerian immigrants in the United States in 2000 equaled 15.3% of all African immigrants, the highest number of all African countries. During that same year, the total population of Egyptian immigrants in the United States was 113,396; Ethiopians were 69,531, and Ghanaians 65,572.[3]
African scholars and students in the U.S. have been debating this topic. Why are Kenyan students overrepresented in colleges and universities in the United States? To answer that question, I have come up with the following speculations: (1) Religion, mainly Christianity (2) Language, English (3) Demography (4) Major international Hub for Western Media (5) Shift from British to American education system (6) Relative political stability compared to Congo, D.R. or Liberia (7) Early adoption of Capitalism or American and British brands of it (8) Human’s Evolutionary history (9) Kenya, like the U.S. as a victim of international terrorism. (10) Kenya’s great collection of beautiful and powerful exotic animals. Let us briefly examine each of these factors
(1) Religion (mainly Christianity)
The United States and Kenya are very religious countries and that might have contributed to what appears to be a special relationship between them. Not only are the two countries religious, but the majority of people in each country are Christians. As of 2005, in both the United States and Kenya, 4 out of every 5 people (78% in Kenya) are Christians. One example of America’s Christian influence in Kenya is the establishment of U.S. affiliated private Christian colleges and universities. For example, on January 12, 2001, the East African Standard published a list of 14 private colleges and universities in Kenya that were under different categories of accreditation. Of those 14 private colleges and universities, 13 (93%) were Christian based, with most of them affiliated with Christian institutions in the United States. The one university that was not Christian based, was still an American institution, the United States International University (USIU). This might contribute to the high number of Kenyan students in the U.S., when compared to other African countries, because those institutions in Kenya may have less difficulty finding visas for their former or current students who want to further their studies in the United States.
CONTINUE ON PAGE
1
2
3
4
SEND TO A FRIEND
Articles published on this website are reviewed before publication, which means there may be a delay between the time you sent your article and its appearance on the website. Holler Africa! reserves the right to edit articles for style and length.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|