How US and UK Universities Market to Foreign Students

Indians should avoid taking on large loans even for STEM degrees from major US and UK universities

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January 18, 2026

Indians are hearing grim stories from relatives, neighbors and friends as several hundred thousand students return to India since they could not find jobs in the United States, United Kingdom and other foreign countries, after earning mostly Master’s degrees. Most of them are burdened with large education loans, with some unable to find work in India. Such stories are also being covered by Indian news sites and on social media posts.

Most Indians who study abroad are not from wealthy families. So, they borrow $50,000 to $200,000 from Indian banks to pay the tuition, living expenses, meals and other expenses in the US, depending on whether they are pursuing one-or-two year-Master’s degree, at state or private universities. Indians studying in the UK borrow loans ranging from $40,000 to $90,000.

Students from India provide a sizeable portion of the revenues of advanced education institutions in both countries. In the 2024-25 academic year, there were 363,000 Indians at colleges and universities in the US. That year, they spent at least $24 billion to study in the US. This is based on the $67,000 annual total costs of pursuing an MS degree at Arizona State University, which is popular with Indians. The costs are higher at private schools.

In the current academic year, there are around 98,000 students from India pursuing advanced degrees in the UK, who will spend at least $4 billion. This is based on $40,000 in annual costs to pursue an MS degree at the University of Manchester.

US and UK universities face large, rising budget deficits, with even some major ones having to cut faculty and staff. Part of the reason is that, after years of sharp increases, foreign graduate student enrollments are declining. In the current 2025-2026 academic year, graduate programs at US universities saw a six percent decline in new enrollment of foreign students. This was on top of a 15 percent decline in 2024-25. As a result, over the past two years, the annual graduate fee revenues of US universities has fallen by a fifth, at least an estimated $4 billion. There are fewer foreign students in the US - and UK - due to reduced job opportunities and adverse changes in work visa policies.

US universities face a further decline in foreign student enrollment for the upcoming 2026-2027 academic year. Starting next week, the Trump Administration will pause processing visas, including for students, for citizens of 75 countries. They include Brazil, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Egypt, which, in 2023-2024, had more than 55,000 students at US universities, including 17,000 each from Bangladesh and Brazil. To try to make up the shortfall in revenues, US - and UK - universities will likely be more aggressive in their recruiting strategies in India.

Apparently, university officials expect such strategies, combined with the allure of the American dream or a foreign degree, is enough to convince applicants in India. In fact, in their pitches to students, officials make no direct, upfront mention that most will need to borrow large sums to study in the US or UK. Instead, as one of them describes it, “an American degree represents a major financial and personal investment, often involving family resources and expectations.”

The recruitment strategies of US and UK universities cover a wide range from paying consultants in India to boosting the class size of popular STEM degrees. US and UK universities pay $5,000 or more to admission consultants and agents in India for every student they help enroll. Such payments are not disclosed to the applicants, who also have to pay the consultants a fee.

Many MS programs no longer require scores of the basic Graduate Record Examination, let alone on advanced tests. In their greed to earn fees, some admission consultants in India guide students to apply to programs that do not require test scores and hence have an easier admission criteria. Employers though do not value such degrees, which further reduces the odds of an Indian graduate being hired on a work visa in the US or UK.

Then, there has been a rapid increase in the number of MS programs, especially in STEM. Some universities, especially in the major US and UK cities, offer more than a hundred MS programs. Also, MBA programs have been transformed into STEM degrees to increase their appeal to foreign students. In the US, a foreign MBA graduate qualifies for a three-year practical training work visa, compared to a one-year visa for those with non-STEM degrees - assuming they can find a job.

Another fee-raising strategy is to boost the capacity of STEM degrees which have better job prospects. For instance, there are more than one thousand students, mostly foreigners, in popular MS data science programs. The universities ignore the fact that a large class, filled by lowering admission standards, reduces the chances of a foreign graduate finding a job in the US or UK.

Foreign students are charged full fees, unlike many domestic students. So, a key strategy of many US universities is to offer teaser scholarships. Typically, they are given to students with work experience who are likely to find jobs upon graduation. This helps boost the program’s job placement rate and makes it more appealing to future applicants.

The scholarships though are similar to discount coupons offered by a vendor trying to sell more bottles of shampoo - at best they cover only 10 percent to 20 percent of the tuition. And yet, many Indians, feeling honored to receive a scholarship, eagerly borrow large sums to pay for 80 percent of the tuition and all the other expenses. This year, the universities will likely offer many more scholarships. After all, instead of receiving no revenues, a scholarship can bring in 80 percent of the tuition.

Recently, many STEM MS programs in the US have begun offering foreign students an extra semester or two of campus internships, for a fee. The stated goal is to provide work experience. The internships though enable foreign students, who do not find jobs upon graduation, to stay on longer and continue to apply for jobs in the US. However, given the work visa policies and the intense competition, very few foreign graduates of even the top STEM programs find jobs during the campus internships.

Soon, defaults by Indians on their foreign education loans will start to rise, risking them losing their family homes, which was put up as collateral, to the banks. Far fewer of them are finding jobs upon graduation in the US or UK, which typically helps them repay at least part of their loans. This is because the US has imposed a $100,000 fee and other restrictions on work visas for foreigners while the UK has stopped the automatic issuance of three-year work visas to foreign STEM graduates.

“Regretting Masters in USA…Jobless, Huge Debt,” is the title of a post on Reddit by a 25-year-old professional. He was a cloud engineer in India with a major global technology company, earning $18,000 per year. He gave up the job and borrowed $50,000, at an interest rate of 12.5 percent, to pursue a US degree. He writes, “Right now, I’m regretting my decision of moving to the US considering the financial stress and uncertainty I am facing.”

Perhaps such stories will convince more students from India to avoid the foreign education debt trap. While ignoring the scholarships, internships and other apparently tempting offers, they should focus on one simple measure to protect themselves and their families: pursue an advanced STEM degree, even from a major US and UK university, only if it can be funded with a loan which can be repaid within ten years, based on a salary earned in India.

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