Even as a United States district judge has temporary blocked the Trump administration’s plan to strip Harvard University of its ability to enroll foreign students after the varsity sued the administration, the entire issue becomes hugely symbolic of the uncertainty students face in a volatile political climate, not just in the US, but elsewhere too.
Shruti Rathi, an independent study abroad consultant, told FE, “For students applying to the US, colleges like Harvard are dream destinations. What’s happening right now is an unwelcome move, and it’s not an isolated decision. Visa issues have also been increasingly cropping up recently which discourage students from applying to their dream colleges.”
Hours after the news of Trump’s order broke, Akshay Chaturvedi, founder and CEO, Leverage Edu, a study abroad and talent mobility technology firm, wrote on X, “(This is) going to have an impact on the US’s attractiveness as a talent magnet. Other selected European nations/Middle East ARE GOING TO LAP UP this access to international students aka high-quality talent.”
Chaturvedi points to a trend that is already being seen among international students. In April this year, the US DHS’ student and exchange visitor information system data revealed that the number of Indian students in the US had seen an almost “28% year-on-year decline in March 2025”.
Overall, too, the number of F-1 visas (which allow international students to study at an accredited US college) issued for Indian students fell from 1,31,000 in 2023 to 86,110 in 2024.
This is not restricted to the US alone. As per Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), Indian students receiving study permits in Canada fell by 32% from 2.78 lakh to 1.89 lakh in 2024. More recently, it revealed that in the first quarter of 2025, only 30,640 permits were issued to international students (not just Indian students), a 31% decline from the same time period last year when the country had issued permits to 44,295 students.
Even the UK saw a 26% reduction as student visas issued to Indians decreased from 1,20,000 in 2023 to 88,732 in 2024, as per reports based on UK Home Office figures.
So where are the students going then? The latest Global Enrolment Benchmark survey suggests that Indian students are increasingly opting for ‘non-traditional’ destinations to pursue higher studies, such as Germany, Italy, France, and Sweden, while showing a declining interest in the top four traditional choices of the UK, US, Canada, and Australia.
A recent report by Gradding.com, a study-abroad platform, also suggested that there has been a 38% increase in Indian students opting for universities in Singapore, Ireland, Dubai, etc, with Singapore specifically seeing a 25% year-on-year growth.
Chaturvedi told FE: “Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, and the UAE are gaining traction, especially among Indian students, for their affordable or tuition-free education and strong programmes in engineering and technology.”
The numbers make sense when you put them in perspective. Many aspiring international students have been worried about how a country’s current politics could impact their education and career. Anya Gupta, an 18-year-old from JBCN International School, Parel, is set to join the IE Business School in Madrid this year for their BBA programme. She told FE, “The political stability of each country was an important factor that affected my ultimate decision about where to study as it can influence other economic factors such as inflation, cost of living, safety, confidence, etc.”
Some students feel the UK will become a more attractive destination for students, courtesy of the new India-UK Free Trade Agreement (FTA) that aims to enhance post-study job roles in certain sectors like IT, education, law, and reduce paperwork and streamline visa procedures.
A British High Commission spokesperson in New Delhi told FE, “The landmark trade deal agreed by the UK and India marks a new era of growth for two of the world’s largest and most innovative economies. Indian students represent one of the largest international groups in the UK, receiving nearly a quarter of all UK-sponsored study visas issued globally last year,” adding, “The University of Southampton and Queens University Belfast have announced plans to open new campuses in India, enabling students to experience a UK university campus in India.”
Chaturvedi of Leverage Edu agreed: “Students are bolstered by the FTA, which has enhanced educational and professional ties. The US isn’t out of the game but going through a certain phase right now which makes a category of students unsure. Last, but not the least, Canada is bound to make a comeback under the new government.”
For instance, Rashi Goel, a 25-year-old software engineer, chose the UK over the US, and is all set to join London’s Brunel University for an MBA programme this fall. “I was considering the UK, Singapore, and Dubai for my MBA, but not USA because I was unsure what the visa/job situation would be post-MBA because of Trump,” she said.
But are students discouraged to study abroad overall? No, said Chaturvedi, adding, “We haven’t seen students abandoning their dreams, but we are seeing them approach the process with sharper questions and a longer lens. Political changes or shifts in policy do affect the sentiment in the short term, but instead of stepping away, students today are recalibrating. They’re weighing long-term outcomes more carefully, exploring a wider set of countries, and thinking more critically about career alignment, return on investment, and mobility after graduation.”