Number of Indian students joining US engineering colleges dips

BENGALURU: The number of students from India enrolled in graduate level programmes in computer science and engineering in the US declined by 21% from 2016 to 2017, according to a study by the National Foundation for American Policy (NFAP), based on data from the US Department of Homeland Security.

The NFAP said the number of international students enrolled in US universities declined by approximately 4% between 2016 and 2017, and more than half of this could be attributed to fewer individuals from India studying computer science and engineering at the graduate level in 2017.

Indian graduate students completing degrees in science and engineering at US universities are a major source of talent for US firms.


The report of the NFAP, a non-profit, non-partisan public policy research organisation in Virginia, indicated that the Donald Trump administration's restrictive visa and work policies had affected the prospects of attracting and retaining bright foreign students making a significant contribution to the US economy. The report said the Narendra Modi government's demonetisation move - which led to severe cash shortage - might have played a role in the sharp decline in Indian student enrolment. But it ruled this out as a major cause, considering that the number of Indian students going to the US for undergraduate programmes in computer science and engineering increased by about 740 .

Students from India mostly go to the United States for graduate programmes (leading to a post-graduate degree), than for undergraduate programmes. The ministry of external affairs estimates that there were 206,708 Indian students studying in the US in 2017."News reports and other information about the US limiting the ability of international students to gain employment after completing their studies could be discouraging enrolment," the NFAP report said.

Further, it said: "The key to remember is that international students have more choices than ever before about where to study and US policies on immigration and international students have an impact on those choices."

To the extent the US makes it more difficult to work after graduation or imposes other restrictive policies it is less likely that international students choose America as their destination," it said, adding, "fewer international students coming to the US will have a serious impact on US students and US universities, as well as American companies "and our country's role as a centre of science and innovation."