India's ambition to emerge as a global education hub is facing a challenge from an unexpected direction: American students are increasingly choosing not to study in the country.
According to the Institute of International Education (IIE) figures, the enrolment of students from the US into India witnessed a drop of over 65% in the last ten years, signaling a persistent trend that started even before the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.
In the 2023-24 academic year, a total of just 1,578 American students enrolled in universities in India. This constituted only 0.52% of the total of 2,98,180 American students studying abroad in 2023-24, down from 4,583 who came to India to study in the 2013-14 academic year.
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Contrastingly, there has been a continuous increase in Indians opting for higher studies in US universities. Nearly 3.6 lakh Indian students currently study in the US, making India the top foreign nation sending its students to the US.
Why are fewer Americans choosing India?
Education experts say several structural issues continue to affect India's attractiveness as a study destination. Mrinalini Batra, founder of International Education Exchange, said global rankings remain a major concern for prospective students.
"Indian universities don't appear very high in global rankings. If someone has access to colleges that are top-ranked in the world, why would they leave that and come to India?" Batra told Hindustan Times. She also pointed to curriculum design as a challenge.
"Our curriculum is very clearly laid out and can be very rigid," she said, adding that concerns over academic credit transfers and limited on-campus accommodation for international students further discourage enrolment.
AI Generated
Industry experts note that American students increasingly seek flexibility, interdisciplinary learning and seamless credit recognition when choosing overseas programmes.
Pandemic impact worsened an existing decline
The fall in student numbers predates Covid-19 but accelerated significantly during the pandemic. India was once among the most popular destinations for American students. In 2011-12, more than 4,500 students from the US studied in India, making it the 12th most popular study-abroad destination.
However, enrolment began declining around 2016-17 before collapsing during the pandemic years. By 2020-21, only 16 American students were recorded as studying in India.
Although global student mobility has largely recovered, India has struggled to regain its earlier appeal among US students. Raj Echambadi, president of the Illinois Institute of Technology, said Asian study-abroad programmes generally took longer to recover than those in Europe because of prolonged travel disruptions.
"Student word of mouth is a critical driver for these programmes. That multi-year disruption severely fractured the enrolment pipeline to India," he told Hindustan Times.
Competition from emerging destinations
Experts also argue that India faces stronger competition from countries offering specialised programmes linked to technology and future careers.
While India's traditional appeal has centred on cultural immersion, language learning and liberal arts education, student priorities have shifted toward fields such as artificial intelligence, quantum computing and advanced technology.
Echambadi said India needs to position itself as a destination for cutting-edge technological education if it hopes to attract larger numbers of international students. The challenge is reflected in the latest numbers. India now attracts fewer American students than Belize and only slightly more than countries such as Vietnam and Ghana.
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A growing imbalance
The difference between educational flows from both countries is becoming more apparent than ever. In terms of statistics, a total number of 3,31,602 Indian students pursued higher education in the United States in the year 2023-24, surpassing China to become the top country sending students abroad. The number of such students went up to 3,63,019 in 2024-25.
This wide disparity serves as proof of the rising popularity of the American education system among the Indian population and the inability of India to emerge as an internationally competitive educational hub.
In this regard, Indian authorities need to consider another factor when working towards the goal of making their educational establishments international.
