Will US Universities Give Indian Students More Aid?
Excerpt:
In our last post we 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.
Is the catalyst more financial aid by the US Universities? Read to find out.
Full Article:
How far will US universities go to attract Indian students?
A previous post discussed possible study abroad trends that might emerge in 2025. One of the anticipated developments was that more scholarships or financial aid could become available to international students in coming years. Could YUNO Learning find any information that supported the guess that “more aid” was likely? Or was it just wishful thinking
An article in The Ken* pointed out that:
Nearly one in four universities has increased its budget for outreach and recruitment of international students, per the Open Doors’ Fall 2023 report [Institute of International Education, Inc. Fall 2023 Snapshot [ https://www.iie.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Fall-2023-Snapshot.pdf ] And 80 percent of the 639 institutions that participated in the survey are focusing on India for graduate student recruitment. Not only are elite or tier-1 universities adapting for Indian students by waiving off test requirements and tailoring courses, but even state private universities and community colleges are stepping up their efforts to attract them.
Several sources mentioned that US colleges and universities are looking for ways to avert a financial crunch arising from plummeting domestic enrolment and one of the obvious strategies was to admit more international students. Foreign students pay full fees. Some sources mentioned that “the India market” stands out because:
It is a very big market.
Indians place a high value on a US degree — so high that they are willing to do just about anything to scrape up the money.
Indian students — intelligent, determined, industrious — often go on to become top-of-the-pile professionals. As alumni, they enhance the reputation of the institutions that nurtured them.
But how far would American colleges and universities go to attract students from India? Would institutions compete among themselves to get Indian students? Would they hold out the lure of attractive scholarships and aid packages to increase their “market share”?
Logically, one would have to answer No. After all, the very thing that makes any foreign student attractive to a US college/university is the fact that he or she pays full-price tuition. Income from foreign “cash cows” allows institutions to balance their budgets.
Could these institutions balance their budgets by raising tuition costs for domestic students?
Yes … but that would further discourage domestic enrolment which is at the root of their financial problem.
Again, looking at India, so far, it seems that there is no upper limit to what Indian families are ready to shell out. However, the relationship between US institutions of higher learning and foreign students is a transactional relationship. Game theory applies to all types of transactions. In fact, it simplifies complex transactions like the present example of institutions competing for a particular type of student. The player examines the possible payoffs for each alternative and takes particular note of the smallest payoff for each alternative. Player chooses the alternative that yields the greatest of those minimum payoffs. Which deal yields the best (or most) for the least pay-out? Since it is often the case that “fast nickels beat slow dimes”, a US college or university might offer incentives in the shape of scholarships/financial aid, thus lowering cost, for the sake of attracting more international students?
In fact, this strategy is already in operation in the competition to enrol domestic students. The bait held out is in the shape of “merit scholarships”.
This is from the December 11, 2023, issue of Inside Higher Ed, Merit Scholarship’ or Enrollment Incentive?
On the surface, these are financial awards institutions dole out to deserving students based on proven academic achievement. In practice, they act as tuition discounts colleges use to lure students away from the competition. The strategy has grown more common at public universities as state funding has decreased over the past two decades, prompting institutions to look to higher-paying out-of-state students to fill empty seats. From 2001 to 2017, spending on non-need-based aid at public institutions rose from $1.1 billion to $3 billion, and 52 percent of public institutions more than doubled their merit aid spending, according to data from New America; over 25 percent more than quadrupled it. Institutions are increasingly prioritising enrollment goals over helping students who are in financial need, and they are apportioning their institutional aid accordingly
Merit means the runner who crosses the tape first, wins. There are several ways that a “merit” system could work, but, if there is anything like fairness, it will be impossible to deny merit to Indian students. They have been competing from school days. Perhaps Indian students will not benefit at the beginning of the first year of their studies, but by the end of Year 1, the most competitive of them will be in a position to claim assistance by virtue of merit. If the colleges/universities want Indian students badly enough, they will be prepared to make concessions in fees on the grounds of merit at the time of admission.
In fact, this is already happening. Here’s a sample of what many colleges and universities are offering:
Iowa State University: https://www.iastate.edu/admission-and-aid/admissions/international-admissions/international-merit-scholarships
Clark University (Worcester, MA): https://www.clarku.edu/offices/financial-aid/prospective-students/international-students/first-year-scholarships/
George Washington University (Washington, DC): https://undergraduate.admissions.gwu.edu/international-student-aid
Or, if fee concessions (aka scholarships) are not on the table, there are other ways that colleges/universities can extend financial aid.
Colleges/universities are in a position to recommend deserving students for scholarships from non-university sources. There are many of these.
Aid might also take the form of a grant or easy loan for a specific purpose.
Another way that colleges/universities give assistance is through jobs. With authorization, F-1 visa holders can work up to 20 hours per week on-campus and off-campus. An on-campus opportunity could mean research, teaching, lab or administrative assistant, or a job in the library.
If US colleges and universities are prioritising and rewarding merit, this can only work to the advantage of Indian students.
It is also clear that, despite all the noise over H-1B visas, the US Government itself sees Indians — students and professionals — as high performing contributors to the economy. Why else would the US government approve the system of Optional Practical Training? This allows a foreign student to work in America for up to three years after graduating. In particular, the US needs manpower in the fields of science, maths and engineering. These are exactly the fields that attract the highest number of Indian students.
Yuno Learning concludes that US colleges/universities are not only likely to raise the number and quantum of scholarships or financial aid in future, THEY ARE DOING IT NOW. Indian students are well positioned to benefit from the incentives and have only to continue doing what they have been doing all along: EXCELLING.