US Colleges, Universities Roll Out the Red Carpet

Recent reports have highlighted a concerning trend: a 36% rejection rate for Indian students applying for F-1 visas to study in the USA in 2022-2023. While this may seem alarming, it’s not unprecedented. Over the past five years, F-1 visa rejection rates have fluctuated, ranging from 29.26% to a high of 34.97% in 2018, with a notable low of 19.84% in 2021 (during the Covid-19 pandemic) and 34.93% in 2022.

However, amidst these fluctuations, a significant milestone has been reached: the number of Indian students studying in the USA has surpassed the 1 million mark, marking a remarkable 12% increase in the 2022-23 academic year. This surge represents the largest annual growth since the 1970s.

This article seeks to explore the underlying factors driving this growth, shedding light on the catalysts behind this remarkable expansion in Indian student enrollment in the USA.

Read the full article:

International students are back on US college and university campuses BIG TIME!  In absolute numbers, they have crossed the 1 million mark. YUNO LEARNING accessed the exact figures presented in the Open Doors Report* and a study conducted by the nonprofit Institute of International Education**

The statistic that goes up in lights is 12 percent. That’s the percentage by which international student admission grew in the U.S in the 2022-23 academic year. Not since the late 1970s has the total grown that much in one year. These students bring global perspectives to campuses, account for more than 5 percent of postsecondary enrollment, and provide colleges and universities some financial margin in an age of falling domestic enrollment.

*https://opendoorsdata.org/

**https://opendoorsdata.org/annual-release/international-students/

However looking at the chart, we see a very obvious dip in the upward line. That is, of course, the covid years. Now covid is forgotten and numbers are steeply rising again – with Indian students accounting for the steepest rise. The number of students coming from India in 2022-23 jumped up to 35 percent.

As a destination for international students wishing to study abroad, the USA is the Number One choice, far ahead of all other countries. No surprise: it has been Number One for more than a century.

Here are the numbers for the past two years and the percent of change: 

In stark contrast, the number of Indian students in 2023 has surged by nearly 70,000 over the 2021-22 figure – an astonishing increase of 35% !

Most came for graduate programs, often in science, technology and business. University officials give three reasons for the waning number of Chinese students:

• US-China tension has influenced the drop in students. 
• Increased cost of high education in the US.
• Prolonged covid-related travel restrictions.

As for the dramatic jump in admission of Indian students, from the perspective of a US college or university, nothing could be better.  They bring crucial revenue to colleges and universities, often paying full tuition or close to it, and they are pumping money into local economies.

Forbes estimated the benefit:

Over one million international students contributed $40.1 billion to the U.S. economy in the 2022-2023 academic year, marking a significant 19 percent increase compared to the previous academic year, according to data from NAFSA: Association for International Educators in Washington, DC.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/annaesakismith/2023/11/13/one-million-international-students-contributed-40-billion-to-us-economy/?sh=2ba6e55776be

They also provide enduring evidence of the global prestige of US institutions devoted to teaching 

and research. Most of these Indian students — nearly 166,000 — are pursuing advanced degrees and they are found in greatest numbers in California, New York, Texas, Massachusetts, and Illinois.

Again, comparing Indian and Chinese students, students from India now outnumber those from China in 24 US states, including Illinois, Texas and Michigan, which rank among the top destinations for international students

In the case of Indian students, graduate student enrollment increased by 21 percent, as opposed to a mere 1 per cent increase in undergraduate enrollment. This is easy to understand. US colleges and universities charge high tuition for their four-year undergraduate programmes. Students pursuing postgraduate degrees don’t bring in as much money. Indeed, many of them are eligible for scholarships or other types of financial aid.

Indian families understand this perfectly and, in most cases, put their children in Indian colleges and universities for the undergraduate degree. Even if the institution is a prestigious one, the fees are still in Indian rupees rather than dollars. 

It’s easy to guess which courses attract Indian students.

Nearly a quarter of these students are enrolled in math and computer science programs.  Engineering 

trails with about one in five students pursuing an engineering degree. Business and management follow.  Taken together, these three categories account for about 57 percent of all Indian students.

According to the article in The Ken, about six out of ten institutions responded positively to the Open Doors survey question on their admissions policy vis a vis students from India. They want Indian students and they intend to prioritize outreach to India – particularly for undergraduate admissions. At present, the vast majority of Indians enrolled in US colleges and universities are graduate students.

With a grand total of 1,057,188 international students soaking up knowledge on US campuses, it’s easy to picture a global microcosm, proportionately representing East and West, North and South. One would be delighted to see such a day dawn, but that’s not actually how it is … yet.  Foreign students made up only 5.6 percent of all college students in the 2022-23 year.

The reason that they play such a prominent role in American higher education can be summed up in one word: MONEY. 

Are you wondering exactly how foreign students in general and Indian students in particular figure in the admissions policy strategies of US colleges and universities?

Yuno Learning will tell you all about it in the next post.