US varsities see number of Indian students drop to 5-year lows

Yale University | Country: United States (Image: yale.edu)

The number of Indian students pursuing education in US universities dropped to a five-year low at 167,582 in 2020-21. This gives a clear assessment of the impact of COVID-induced mobility restrictions on the aspiration of foreign studies.

According to data released by the US government on Monday, the number of Indian students this year was 13.2 percent lower than that in 2019-20, when 193,124 students were studying there. This was the second year in a row when the number of Indian students in the US went down after scaling a peak at 202,014 in 2018-19, the Open Doors data on international students showed.

The last time the US reported less than the 2020-21 figure was in 2015-16 when 165,918 Indian students were there. In 2015-16, however, the inflow from India was 24.9 percent more than the previous year.

“In 2020-21, the total number of international students at US universities declined by 15 percent to 914,095 students from the year-before period,” the Open Doors data on international students said.

The decline in overall numbers in 2020-21 put the foreign students’ population in the US at a seven-year low and shows how the pandemic induced economic and personal decisions have impacted the key overseas education destination. While the overall US numbers dropped 15 percent in 2020-21, it had declined 1.8% in 19-20.

Even as Indian students number dropped by 13.2 percent in 2020-21, Chinese students number dropped by 14.8 percent, South Koreans dropped by 20.7 percent and Saudi Arabia students number dropped 29.2 percent. Similarly, Japanese students’ population fell by 32.9 percent, and Taiwan students pursuing education there decreased by 17.1 percent, indicating a wider falling trend.

However, India remained the second largest source of foreign students for the US after China. While Chinese students comprise 34.7 percent of the cohort, Indians constitute 18.3 percent, followed by South Korea at 4.3 percent, Canada at 2.8 percent and Saudi Arabia at 2.4 percent. All the top five sources of foreign students to the US recorded a decline in traffic, according to the data.

“Despite the global pandemic, Indian students were able to apply for visas and travel to the United States. We issued over 62,000 student visas this summer alone, more than in any previous year. This goes to show that the United States remains the destination of choice for Indian students looking to study abroad. We look forward to issuing many more visas in the year to come, to help Indian students achieve their dreams of US study,” Minister Counsellor for Consular Affairs Don Heflin said at the release of the Open Doors report on international student mobility.

The US remained open and welcoming to international students throughout the global pandemic. Last year, the US government and higher-education institutions implemented measures to safely welcome international students in person, online and via hybrid learning methods, guaranteeing that opportunities and resources to international students remained robust, the US Embassy in New Delhi said.