Pranay Karkare, who spent years of savings and $60,000 in student loans to earn a master's degree in the United States, considers himself lucky. Back home in India, he often hears stories of families who sold their land to send their children to universities abroad.
Karkare was ready to do anything once he got to Johns Hopkins University. He believed that graduating from a prestigious university in the United States would open the door to better jobs and higher wages than he would find in India.
“I don't think I would have received the same level of education that I have here,” said Karkare, 23.
A historic number of Indian students are studying at universities abroad as a rapidly growing generation of ambitious young people seeks opportunities not available at home. In India, it is estimated that 1.5 million students are studying at other universities, an eight-fold increase since 2012, and no country attracts more students than the United States.
It's a loss for India, where many students see college as a stepping stone to careers overseas, but a boon for American schools. As record enrollment of students from China declines, U.S. universities are turning to India as a new source of full-tuition payments.
Although the Indian economy is growing, even university graduates remain unemployed. Rosa Abraham, an economist at Azim Premji University, said jobs are being created in sectors such as construction and agriculture, but they are not meeting the demand for a newly educated workforce.
“I think many young people today feel that the economy is not meeting their potential and aspirations and would like to try opportunities abroad if possible,” she said.
India's own higher education system is also understaffed. With the rapidly growing population, competition for admission to India's top universities is heating up. Acceptance rates at some of India's elite universities have fallen to as low as 0.2%, compared to 3% at Harvard University and 4% at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Lokesh Sangabatula is pursuing a Ph.D. He holds a doctorate in materials science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and while many people would like to work in the United States, he believes there is little demand for materials scientists in India, and at best they can become professors. said. The same is true of engineers in India, where the industry produces a large number of engineers without employing them.
“We produce engineers whose degrees are worthless, so people leave the country,” he says.
Universities in Canada, Australia, and the United Kingdom are also seeing increased interest, but the United States in particular enrolls about 269,000 students from India. That number is rapidly increasing, with a 35% increase in the 2022-23 academic year, and India is poised to replace China as the largest international presence on U.S. college campuses.
The vast majority enroll for graduate programs, many in science, mathematics, and engineering (fields facing chronic labor shortages in the United States), but as India's middle class expands, The number of undergraduate students is also increasing. One of the selling points is the opportunity to work in the US for up to three years after graduation. This is a benefit provided by the U.S. government and is known as optional on-the-job training.
For Karkare, staying in India was never an option. While an undergraduate in India, he became interested in engineering management, which blends engineering and leadership skills. Although it is a growing industry in the United States and Europe, Mr. Karkare, who is from the western Indian state of Maharashtra, was unable to find a master's degree program in India.
At Hopkins, students receive professional experience arranged by the school, which is rare among Indian universities. Although he would like to return to India eventually, the most attractive jobs are elsewhere. She plans to work in the United States for at least one to two years after graduation.
If he can find a suitable job in India, he added, “I would come back in a heartbeat.”
The surge is helping U.S. universities, which charge higher tuition fees to international students, make money. This comes as many Americans are dissatisfied with higher education, citing concerns about student debt and liberal bias in universities. The number of international students coming from China is decreasing due to the cooling of political relations and the stagnation of the Chinese economy.
In India, American universities have become a common sight at college fairs. Many of them are spending large sums of money to gain visibility in India and are branching out further across the country to recruit in smaller cities and towns where demand for study abroad is growing.
Still, education abroad remains out of reach for the majority of India's youth. The cost of education in the US is huge for most people, and Indian banks are scaling back student loans in response to high default rates.
Even for those with financial means, there are obstacles to the student visa process. At the US Embassy in New Delhi, student applicants are routinely turned away.
On a recent Friday, Daisy Cheema slumped her shoulders and sighed as she left the embassy. After being accepted to Westcliff College, a for-profit college in California, she spent several weeks preparing for her visa interview. She asked her agency for help, but the visa was refused without giving any reason. She had just received a piece of paper saying she could reapply.
Cheema, 22, wanted to gain work experience in the United States before returning to India to raise her family. Her parents, who run a petrol station in the northern Indian state of Punjab, planned to pay from their own savings.
“I feel terrible right now,” Cheema said, fighting back tears. “But I'll prepare better and try again. I'm not giving up.”
The shift toward Indian students in the U.S. can also be seen on campuses such as the University of Texas at Dallas, where enrollment from China has fallen from about 1,200 to 400 students in the past four years. During that time, enrollment from India has increased from about 3,000 to 4,400.
Rajarshi Bhogarapu came to the United States to pursue a master's degree in business analysis, and chose UT Dallas because of its large Indian population. He borrowed his $40,000 for his tuition, which he considers an investment in his own future.
“In India, we value education above all else,” he said.
Like many American universities, Johns Hopkins University is deepening its ties with India. The center hosts Indian diplomats to discuss medical and engineering partnerships and is part of a new task force created by the Association of American Universities to foster exchanges with India.
Before coming to the United States, Karkare had concerns about the political situation, but the campus made her feel welcome. When he couldn't get home for Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, he was surprised to see a campus celebration with hundreds of students and staff.
In the campus gymnasium decorated with colorful flowers and lamps, Karkare watched as a group of students performed a dance that combined old and new Indian music. There was a Hindu prayer ceremony. And when the dance floor was empty, Karkare joined in.
“It was a night to remember,” he said. “It felt like home.”
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