Rupee: Currency crash, visa crackdowns force Indian students to rethink foreign education

“The market is clearly showing signs of slowing down. We’ve already seen enrolments to the UK and US fall by 20% over the last two years, and I expect another 10-15% decline from those levels going forward,” Sushil Sukhwani, founder of Edwise International, which sends thousands of Indian students to universities abroad each year, told the BBC.

Tougher visa requirements have already taken a toll. In the UK, 76% of universities reported a decline in Indian student enrolments, external for the January intake, while in the US, enrolments fell by nearly 7%, external between February 2025 and February 2026.

The sharp fall in the rupee has compounded the challenges facing both prospective students and those already studying overseas.

“Many students who are already abroad have paid part of their tuition fees, but are now having to refinance loans and arrange additional funding to cover future instalments, with the rupee down more than 10% against the US dollar in the last year,” Sukhwani said.

According to his calculations, the Indian rupee has depreciated by between 35% and 47% against the currencies of major study destinations since 2019.

While incomes have risen for some graduates who have got jobs and stayed overseas, climbing onto the career ladder is becoming increasingly difficult for many international students.

“They arrive hoping to secure skilled jobs in the fields they trained for and end up working in the gig economy. Earlier, that work helped fund their education. Now many are graduating and doing it full-time,” Sudhanshu Kaushik, founder of the North America Association of Indian Students in Washington, told the BBC.

This, he said, is affecting the risk appetite of upper-middle-class Indian families, particularly as the weaker rupee has made an overseas education more expensive than ever.

Yet overall demand for foreign education remains strong.

According to the Global Student Flows Report 2026, Indian student enrolments in the US, UK, Canada and Australia – often referred to as the “big four” destinations – are forecast to decline by an average of 0.5% annually through 2030.

At the same time, interest in alternative destinations is growing.

“Countries such as Germany, Ireland, Italy and several other European destinations are attracting increasing interest from Indian students because of lower tuition costs, favourable post-study work pathways, strong employment prospects and a more attractive overall value proposition,” said Mayank Maheshwari, co-founder and COO of University Living, a student accommodation platform.