Indian Students’ Significant Contribution to the Education Industries in the US and UK

India is proving to be the number one supplier of overseas students to the United States and the United Kingdom.

In the last one decade, the number of Indian students annually picking the United States for higher education has more than doubled, with the country’s share in the total number of international students going up from 11.8 per cent to 21 per cent, according to the Open Doors Report 2022 released recently..

The numbers assume more significance when compared to China, which continues to account for the largest cohort of international students in the US with a share of 31 per cent, but with a slower decadal growth rate as its share was already 29 per cent in 2012-13, a look at past data showed.

The growth rate of Indian students heading to the US is likely to surpass China in 2022-23 as well, with 82,000 visas issued between June and August this year — the highest number among all countries. The corresponding period in 2021-22 saw 62,000 student visas being issued, according to a report in the Indian Express newspaper.

In 2021-22, China and India collectively accounted for 52 per cent of all international students in the United States. The Open Doors report, which is a survey of international exchange activity in the United States, is sponsored by the US Department of State and implemented by the non-profit Institute of International Education (IIE).

In absolute numbers, 1,99,182 students with India as their place of origin were pursuing higher education in the US in 2021-22, as against 1,67,582 in 2020-21, which translates to a 19 per cent increase. In 2012-13, there were 96,654 Indian students in higher education in the US.

The numbers show that India has left behind the slump that had set in the year before the pandemic (2019-20). For two successive years, between 2018-19 and 2019-20, as well as 2019-20 and 2020-21, the number of Indian students enrolled in US universities had fallen by 4.4 per cent and 13.2 per cent respectively.

China, meanwhile, registered a drop of 9 per cent in the latest round, with the number of Chinese students pursuing higher education in the US declining from 3,17,299 in 2020-21 to 2,90,086 in 2021-22. Between 2019-20 and 2020-21, it had fallen by 14.8 per cent respectively.

A decade ago, there were 2,35,597 Chinese higher education students in the US.

It may be noted that the “bulk” of the Indian students are registered for master’s programmes. And they usually choose subjects like Mathematics and Computer Science, Engineering and Business, and Management.

Similarly, according to the latest UK immigration statistics released in August, India now accounts for the largest share of study visas issued by the United Kingdom, overtaking China.

In the year ending June 2022, the UK issued 4,86,868 sponsored study visas, of which Indian nationals accounted for 1,17,965 — an 89 per cent increase from the previous year. Chinese nationals, meanwhile, were granted 1,15,056 study visas.

At the moment, as many as 108,000 Indian students are in the United Kingdom. And what is important, there is now good news for them as the British government , soon after the meeting between Indian prime Minister Narendra Modi and British Premier Rishi Sunak at the just-concluded G-2- summit in Bali, Indonesia has launched the new UK-India Young Professional Scheme, giving a green signal to at least 3,000 visas for Indian professionals to work in the European nation every year.

Under the scheme, every year, 3,000 Indian students and employees, aged between 18 years to 30 years can live and work in the U.K. for two years. The tenants under the scheme will be applicable in India as well.

With this, India has become the first country to benefit from such a scheme, the British government has said. Downing Street said in a statement, “The launch of the scheme is a significant moment both for our bilateral relationship with India and the UK’s wider commitment to forging stronger links with the Indo-Pacific region to strengthen both our economies.”

Notably, the scheme comes at the heels of the memorandum of understanding of the UK-India Migration and Mobility Partnership, which was signed by both countries in May last year.