The number of Indian students enrolled in US universities was higher than pre-pandemic levels in the academic year 2021-22. This is according to the data released by Open Doors, a platform sponsored by the US Department of State.

While 1.93 lakh Indian students were enrolled in US varsities in 2019-20, there were 1.99 lakh students in 2021-22. However, in 2020-21, the number dipped to 1.67 lakh.

Indians now form 21 per cent of the total international student population in the US, an all-time high. They also form the second most populous international student group in the US. Even though China has the largest number of international students (2.9 lakh), the number has declined significantly and hasn’t reached the pre-pandemic levels yet.

Rising demand

According to the latest data released by the Ministry of Education, the top study locations overseas for Indian students are UAE, Canada and the USA, in that order. At the same time, a survey conducted by Ed-Tech iSchoolConnect between May and June 2022 revealed that close to 50 per cent of its respondents from India preferred the US for higher education.

Historical data that we sourced from Open Doors says that a total of 1,359 Indian students were enrolled in US educational institutions in 1949-50. While it grew steadily until 1969-70, the next decade witnessed consistent decrease. However, it started picking up again in 1984-1985 and has been growing steadily since then. The year 2020-21 was the only exception in between, owing to the pandemic.

Internet boom

Until the year 2000, Indians formed less than 10 per cent of the international student community in the US. However, the academic year 2004-05 saw the number almost double, compared with1999-2000. In that year, Indians formed 14.2 per cent of the international student community.

“The beginning of the 21st century also saw the internet boom, resulting in more Indians getting to know about US varsities and courses they offered. Until then, only the elite went abroad to study, but the trend has shifted since then,” says Vaibhav Gupta, Alliances and Marketing Head, iSchoolConnect.

Masters vs Bachelors

Indian students mostly prefer the US for pursuing their master’s degree. In 2021-22, while 27,545 students enrolled in bachelor’s programmes in the US, the number of students pursuing post graduate degrees was a whopping 1.02 lakh.

Historically too, this has been the case. “Most Indian parents are reluctant to send their children abroad for a bachelor’s degree, considering their age and affordability. However, they have more confidence that students will manage masters programme better,” says Srishti Mittal Khetan, Co-Founder of UniRely, a college counselling platform. “Also, the duration of a master’s programme is shorter, making it more affordable than a bachelor’s degree,” she adds.

Subject preference

In another shift in the past decade, students have changed preference for subjects. For instance, while engineering was the most preferred domain in 2009-10 (38.8 per cent of students enrolled that year), most students are studying Computer Science and Mathematics (36.8 per cent) in 2021-22, with only 29.6 per cent students pursuing engineering. The proportion of Indian students studying Business and Management related courses in the US, too, has fallen to 13.3 per cent in 2021-22, from 15.3 per cent in 2009-10.

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