Sharp Decline in Indian Students Going Abroad

Key Highlights:

• First simultaneous drop in four years across Canada, the US, and the UK, with visa approvals falling by 25% for Indian students going abroad.
• Tightened immigration policies including caps on study permits & restrictions on dependent visas are the primary drivers behind the decline.
• Shift in academic preferences continues, with Indian students favoring postgraduate studies and job-oriented diplomas in the US, UK, and Canada.

In four years, the number of Indian students going abroad to foreign universities has fallen across the top three countries – Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom. According to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), their data shows a sharp fall of at least 25% in Indian students receiving study permits across these three key destinations.

Canada witnesses a 32% drop, with their permits falling from 2.78 lakh to 1.89 lakh. The US saw an even steeper decrease: 34% with F1 visas dropping from 1,31,000 to 86,110 between FY 2023-2024. Whereas, the UK recorded a reduction of 26%, with sponsored visas issued to Indian students going abroad decreasing from 1,20,000 to 88,732 based on the figures of UK Home Office.

What’s the Reason Behind the Decline?

This change came with immigration tightening their measures in several countries, particularly Canada and the UK, which have introduced caps on student intake and restrictions on dependent visas in response to growing concerns about housing pressures and the impact of large international student populations on public services.

Recently, Canada has implemented several restrictions that have affected Indian students going abroad. These include the end of the fast-track Student Direct Stream program and announcing plans to reduce the number of temporary residents to 5% of its population by 2026.

In 2024, Canada introduced a cap on study permits, which resulted in a 35% drop from the previous year. Then, a further 10% reduction has been announced for 2025. The government justified these moves by stating that increases in international student numbers strain housing, healthcare, and other public services.

Reflecting the impact of these changes, the number of study permits granted to Indian students in Canada dropped by 32% from 2.78 lakh in 2023 to 1.89 lakh in 2024. However, the number of Chinese students saw only a marginal decline of just 3%, from 58,080 in 2023 to 56,465 in 2024.

Similar restrictions were rolled out in the UK in 2024, particularly targeting foreign students bringing dependents. According to the UK Home Office, these changes may have “partly impacted the number of main applicant visas granted.”

Unlike the US and Canada, the UK saw its first decline in India student visas post-pandemic in 2023 itself. In that year, the number of Indian students going abroad who received visas dropped by 13% from 1,23,980 to 1,19,738 followed by a 26% decline in 2024.

After a decade, this reversal brings unprecedented growth in the numbers of Indian students going abroad across these countries. Over the years, students were not only registered for rapid increases in visa approvals but also eventually surpassed Chinese students in acquiring study permits in all three destinations.

Canada emerged as the most preferred destination for Indian students with a big jump in the number of visas granted – from 31,920 in 2015 to 2,78,160 in 2023. The UK recorded an even steeper rise, with Indian students multiplying more than tenfold – from 10,418 in 2015 to 1,19,738 in 2023. Additionally, the US also witnessed significant growth, with Indian students receiving nearly double the number of F1 visas over the decade – from 74,831 in 2015 to 1,30,730 in 2023.

This increase led to Indian students going abroad overtake Chinese peers in all three countries in recent years. Even in 2024, despite the drop in visas, the numbers of Indian students in Canada and the US remained higher than those of Chinese students. In the UK, Indians outnumbered Chinese students in FY 2022-2023 but fell behind again in 2024.

Which are the Preferred Courses?

The preferences and patterns of Indian students going abroad also vary across these countries. In Canada, most of the Indian students enroll in college-level programs that offer shorter, job-oriented diplomas & certificates rather than university degrees.

At universities, bachelor’s programs slightly outpaced master’s programs in 2023, with around 16,000 permits issued for undergraduate studies as compared to 15,640 for postgraduate studies.

In the US, student’s interests in academics have shifted over the years. According to data, engineering was the dominant field until 2017-2018, after which mathematics and computer science emerged as the most popular choice among Indian students going abroad (37.5% vs 35.4% for engineering). Indian students have consistently pursued postgraduate education more than undergraduate programs in the US.

The same trend reflects in the UK. Majority of Indian students there pursue postgraduate studies. The UK Home Office reported: four out of five Indian students or 80% were enrolled at the master’s level. In fact, the gap between undergraduate and postgraduate enrollment has widened over the years.

According to data from the Higher Education Statistics Agency, the proportion of Indian undergraduate students in the UK has fallen significantly from almost 50% in 2014 to just 20% in 2024.