At US universities, record numbers of Indian students seek brighter prospects—and overseas jobs

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Historic numbers of students from India are studying at foreign universities as a fast-growing, aspirational generation of young people looks for opportunities they can’t find at home. India estimates that 1.5 million students are studying at universities elsewhere—an eightfold increase since 2012—with no country attracting more than the U.S. It represents a loss for India, with many students seeing universities as stepping stones for careers overseas, but a boon for American schools. As record-setting enrollment by students from China has ebbed, U.S. universities have turned to India as a new source of full-price tuition payments. India’s economy is growing, but joblessness remains persistent even for college graduates. Jobs are being created in fields such as construction and agriculture, but they don’t meet the demands of a newly educated workforce, said Rosa Abraham, an economist at Azim Premji University. “I think many young people today feel like the economy isn’t meeting their potential, their aspirations, and so they want to try their chances abroad if they can,” she said. “We produce engineers whose degrees don’t have value, so people leave the country,” said Lokesh Sangabattula, who is pursuing a Ph.D. in materials science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). India’s own higher education system is also short on capacity. As its population surges, competition for admission to India’s top universities has become frenzied. Acceptance rates at some elite Indian universities have fallen as low as 0.2%, compared to 3% at Harvard University and 4% at MIT. The vast majority are coming for graduate programs, often in science, math, and engineering—fields that have faced persistent labor shortages in the U.S.—though undergraduate numbers also are rising as India’s middle class expands. One selling point is the chance to work in America for up to three years after graduating, a benefit provided by the U.S. government and known as optional practical training. America’s shift toward Indian students is visible on campuses like the University of Texas, Dallas, where enrollment from China fell from about 1,200 to 400 over the past four years. Meantime, enrollment from India grew from about 3,000 to 4,400. This article was provided by The Associated Press.