‘Low university rankings, rigid curriculum’: Why US students are not choosing India after Covid-19 pandemic

THe list of American students studying in bharat has dropped by sir thomas more than 65 per cent in the past times decennary, a plunge that began before the Covid-19 pandemic, continued during the health crisis, and has not yet recovered. Education experts have said that low global ranking of Indian universities, rigid curriculum, and lack of infrastructure are some of the factors contributing to this decline. According to data from the Institute of International Education (IIE), a non-profit funded by the US State Department, India attracts merely 0.52 per cent of American students studying abroad, as reviewed by HT.In 2023-24, the latest year for which data was available, of the 2,98,180 US students studying abroad, only 1,578 chose India. This is a sharp 65.6 per cent drop from 2013-14, when 4,583 American students came to the country.ALSO READ | Are Indians in US considering leaving in Trump's second term? Here's what survey revealedIn contrast to American students, over 3,60,000 Indian students are currently studying in the United States, making up 30.8 per cent of the international student population there. Notably, India is the biggest source of foreign students in the US.How numbers droppedAccording to IIE data, the number of US students in India began falling before the Covid-19 pandemic, dipped further during the crisis, and has yet to recover.In 2004-05, 1,767 American students chose to study in India, placing the country among the top 25 study-abroad destinations for US citizens.The interest continued to grow at a steady pace, and by 2011-12, the number more than doubled to 4,593 students. This made India the 12th most popular destination for higher education, just behind countries like Japan and Argentina, HT reported earlier.The increase kept its pace until it entered a decline phase in 2016-17, a plunge that was worsened by the Covid-19 pandemic. In 2019-20, the number of American students in India fell by half and by 2020-21, it stood at a mere 16.Why US students are not picking IndiaAccording to education consultants who spoke to HT, various factors, such as a rigid curriculum, lack of infrastructure and low university rankings, are driving the sharp decline in American students choosing India for education.Mrinalini Batra, who runs the International Education Exchange, said, "Indian universities don’t appear very high in global rankings. If someone has access to colleges that are top-ranked in the world, why would they leave that and come to India? Secondly, I think most of the time our curriculum is very clearly laid out and can be very rigid."ALSO READ | Indian students enrolment to US institutions drops by 6.9 per: Govt in RSBatra further stated that Americans are also concerned by the inability of several colleges to provide on-campus housing for international students and the transfer of academic credits to home universities.Meanwhile, Raj Echambadi, president of Illinois Institute of Technology, said that study abroad programs in Asia have taken significantly longer to recover, compared to those in Europe, due to travel curbs. "Because student word of mouth is a critical driver for these programs, that multi-year disruption severely fractured the enrolment pipeline to India," he added.While India's appeal has, for a long time, centred on language immersion, cultural agility, and the liberal arts, the US higher education is now increasingly driven by technological disciplines and immediate career opportunities."India must position itself to offer high-value, competitive opportunities in cutting-edge technology, including artificial intelligence, quantum computing, and other emerging fields,” Echambadi said.Today, India attracts fewer US students than Belize, a country with a population of around 4,41,000, and only slightly more than Vietnam and Ghana.India to US number continues to riseWhile the number of US students to India continues to fall, that of Indian students to the United States continues to increase.In 2023-24, 3,31,602 Indian students went to the US for higher education, surpassing China as the largest source of foreign students in the States.This number has increased 9.5 per cent in 2024-25 to 3,63,019.