Amid uncertainty over US student visas due to the Trump administration, Indian families are reconsidering studying in the US. Enrollment has dropped significantly, with students now looking to the UK, Germany, and other countries for education.
Distressed students, panicked parents have been calling Subash Devatwal, who runs an education consultancy in Ahmedabad. They all have one question - whether studying in the US is still possible.
Last year there were 330,000 Indians enrolled at American universities, more than any other nationality, even surpassing Chinese students for the first time in years. Families in India invest their entire life savings to get their children enrolled in US universities, as for most, it is the ultimate symbol of success.
However, now that Trump's administration has targeted international students, the numbers have weakened. Devatwal's organisation used to send more than 100 students in previous years, but it has now dropped to about 10.
The Trump administration has implemented social media vetting, for all foreign students, and then paused all student visa interviews globally, which has left many students in a state of uncertainty.
“The students are in shock. Most of them spend several years preparing to study in the US,” Devatwal told The Guardian. He added that now his clients are unsure if they should pursue a US degree because of the turmoil associated with the Trump administration. Indian students can expect to pay between $40,000 to $80,000 (£29,500 to £59,000) a year on tuition alone to study in the US.
He said that now students are looking at the UK and other European countries. Brijesh Patel, a textile trader in Surat said that he had saved up money for a decade, sold his wife's jewellery and borrowed money from relatives, just to make sure his son could go to a US university. He said, “We simply can't take that risk. If our son goes now and something goes wrong, we won't be able to save that kind of money again.”
Patel had already paid 700,000 rupees (£6,000) to consultancies who helped with the applications. He said that they will wait a year, and hope that things improve by then. “It's not just my son who will be living the American dream, it's all of us: my wife, our relatives and our neighbours. I've struggled my whole life – I don't want my son to face the same struggles here in India”, he added.
Piyush Bhartiya, a co-founder of the educational technology company AdmitKard, said that many parents were rethinking if the US should be the study destination for their children. He said that a student had been admitted to New York University for the coming year but was planning to go to London School of Economics when US visa interviews were paused.
He stated that the US was the main destination for students to study Stem subjects - science, technology, engineering and maths, however, now the focus had shifted to other countries.
“Germany is the main country where students are shifting to for Stem subjects,” he said. “Other countries like Ireland, France, the Netherlands, which are also gaining substantial interest in the students. At the undergraduate level, the Middle East has also seen a lot of gain in interest given parents feel that it is close by and safer and given the current political environment they may want their kids closer to the home.”
