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The figures are as stark as they can be. The education ministry states that the number of Indian students going abroad dropped from more than 9,00,000 in 2023 to just over 6,00,000 in 2025, or a massive drop of 30 per cent. Monthly outward remittances to fund overseas education has declined from more than $400 million in August 2024 to $165 million in December 2025, or a steep drop nearing 60 per cent. The drop is universal across the major education destinations such as the US, the UK, and Canada. The figures reveal several trends that have gone unnoticed, or were overlooked by experts and policy-makers. First, this indicates that the decline in students’ interest, or inability to go, is not quite related to the India-US issues related to visas over the past 12 months, or the new norms that were introduced in the recent past. The decline began in 2024, and accelerated in 2025.

One of the prime reasons is finances. Over the years, and especially in the recent past, mainstream, and renowned global colleges and universities have hiked fees. In addition, the cost-of-living expenses have zoomed across major cities, including campus towns, in the post-Covid period. The double impact on prices has scaled down expectations. For instance, earlier there were families that were ready to encourage children to get graduate degrees from abroad. Now, there is an insistence to pursue post-graduation since it involves lower expenditure because of the shorter-duration courses. Monthly EMIs on education loans can stretch up to INR 1,00,000 for Ivy League colleges, and require huge salaries to pay them off in 3-5 years. In some cases, if the salaries are not high, the repayment can take 10-15 years. Given the geopolitical situation since 2022, when Russia attacked Ukraine, and going on till the Iran war, students are not confident of bagging financially-lucrative jobs abroad, and that too for longer periods.

Jobs are, as we know, difficult to get. In the US, as we know, things have become tough after Donald Trump took over as the president for the second time. Due to the restraints on H-1B visas, two headaches have cropped up for the students. Their ability to transition to H-1Bs is limited as Indian firms rely less on the visas due to high fees, and the new salary-linked system that will operate from this month. This acts as a negative for the students, who wish to graduate to H-1B, and possibly a green card within a few years. Across states, firms are cagey to hire younger, lower-level foreigners, including Indians, especially those who are fresh out of colleges. Even a bulk of graduate Americans fail to find entry-level or

first jobs, and remain unemployed. For the Indian students, who need to pay the loans, the situation is sticky, as they need well-paid jobs to pay EMIs, and lead decent lives in the US.

In the UK, according to a media report, youngsters need higher finances to stay in cities. London is exorbitant and expensive. Even the smaller cities are expensive. Recently, the UK changed the laws for dependents. Now, restrictions are imposed on dependents of care workers, some medium-skilled workers, and students, with the “latter now limited largely to post-graduate-level or government-sponsored studies.” Although the dependent criteria may not apply to students, many individuals who pursue higher studies are married, and others wish to bring their aged parents abroad for several reasons. In the UK, the dependents are generally spouses, partners, or children, and their visas last until the main applicant’s. Dependents need to show that they can support themselves without public funds and, for skilled workers, this may entail showing their own funds. Dependents cannot travel outside the UK “until a decision is made on their application.”

Even those, who are studying abroad, are assessing their options based on financial statuses, jobs availability, and living expenses. Obviously, there are a set of students, who are forced to come back despite the burden of EMIs and loans. But there are those who deliberately choose not to extend their stay after course completion, or come back sooner than they intended to. A growing section, unlike the past mindset, does not wish to stay abroad, or gain citizenships. Their intention is to work abroad only till the loan is repaid. Hence, their ideal period to remain overseas after education is 3-4 years. There are others who never intended to work abroad. They go abroad to study, and come back to handle family businesses, launch start-ups, or become consultants in India. Global education is no longer linked mainly to migration. Many make a conscious decision to come back, and work in India.

Even among the youngsters, as is evident among the mid-managers, and senior executives, working abroad has emerged as a solution to acquire multiple skills through short-term stints abroad, including short-period courses that range from a few months to a year. The idea is to reset skills to prepare for a new emerging world, where tech and AI may change the nature of jobs and workplaces. Hence, the newcomers and old-timers wish to prepare themselves for such changes through acquisition of multiple skills in short bursts over a few years.