H-1B Hiring Freeze in Texas is Latest Hit to Students from India Pursuing US Degrees
While US job prospects worsen for students from India, American universities aggressively seek to recruit more Indian students
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February 14, 2026
So far in 2026, nearly 26,000 employees have been laid off by technology companies in the United States. The true numbers are likely far higher since most companies avoid public disclosure of layoffs. In fact, in January, the number of employees laid off by US employers was the highest since 2009. Also, less than a third of Americans graduating from colleges in 2025 found a job in their field.
Meanwhile, some unemployed professionals - as well as politicians - say foreigners are taking American jobs. “In its current form the H1B program is used almost universally to either bring on mediocre indentured servants, for Indian hiring managers to exclusively hire co-ethnics,” a reader posted as a comment on a Wall Street Journal story this week.
The layoffs, and blaming foreigners for fewer professional job openings, is the context for a new Texas policy on H-1B visas. These work visas enable employers in the US to hire skilled foreign professionals on a temporary basis.
By March 27, 2026, hospitals, universities, research centers and other agencies run by the Texas administration, have to provide data on how many foreigners they employ on H-1B visas. They also have to send “Documentation demonstrating efforts to provide qualified Texas candidates with a reasonable opportunity to apply for each position filled by a H-1B visa holder before a new petition was submitted for that position.”
Agency officials will likely lay off those on H-1B visas even before their visas expire, to prove they are abiding by the governor’s policies and thus protect their careers. Texas A&M “remains committed to protecting Texas taxpayers…and ensuring that Texas students and communities are served by a strong and qualified workforce,” an official of the state university told Nexstar.
As a result, thousands working on H-1B visas at Texas agencies will soon likely lose their jobs and have to leave the United States. Many of them are doctors, engineers, scientists, nurses and other professionals from India.
Institutions at the University of Texas alone have more than 1,000 employees on H-1 B visas: including 228 at the Southwestern Medical Center, 214 at Texas A&M University, 171 at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, and 169 at UT Austin, according to government data accessed by The Short Horn, a University of Texas publication.
Already, since last month, Texas agencies have frozen hiring foreigners on H-1B visas till May 2027. This was “to ensure American jobs are going to American workers,” the state’s Republican Governor Greg Abbott said in a statement.
In addition to state-run agencies, the new H-1 B visa policy will likely be followed by universities, hospitals, research centers and other institutions, which get funding from the Texas administration, as well as by businesses which provide products and services to state agencies. As it is, private businesses hiring foreign professionals in the state face scrutiny. The Texas Attorney General is investigating the use of H-1B visas by three businesses.
The Texas H-1B policy is the latest blow to students from India hoping to find work in the US upon graduation. Last month, following Texas, Florida’s Republican governor said state agencies will freeze H-1B hires. Other Republican governors will likely adopt similar policies. State agencies will also be asked to stop hiring fresh foreign graduates on practical training visas, according to news reports.
In fiscal year 2025, state-run institutions hired half of the roughly 17,000 foreigners employed by US universities on H-1B visas, according to Inside Higher Ed. Now many of them are at risk of losing their jobs. Private universities, non-profits and business organizations, are facing pressure, from President Donald Trump’s Administration and Republican state governors, to stop hiring foreigners. As part of such efforts, in September 2025, the Trump administration introduced a $100,000 fee to be paid by employers hiring a foreigner on an H-1B visa. The fee is already having an impact. Texas A&M, for instance, stopped sponsoring foreigners for new H-1B visas.
In May, when they graduate from American universities, at best a small fraction of the several hundred thousand students from India are likely to find a job in the US. Most of them are pursuing Master’s degrees in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). As it is, even in 2022 and 2023, during a good job market, a student from India had only a one in three chance of securing a practical training visa and a one in fifteen chance of securing an H-1B visa. This was for graduates with advanced STEM degrees. The prospects are far lower for those with an undergraduate, advanced social science, or even an MBA degree.
Most students from India in the US are not from wealthy families. They pay for their tuition and living expenses by borrowing $100,000 to $200,000 from banks, family and friends, by pledging homes and other assets as collateral. They hope that, upon graduation, they will secure jobs in the US on temporary work visas, which will enable them to save enough money to repay the loans.
Meanwhile, most American universities face large, rising budget deficits, with even some major ones having to cut faculty and staff. Hence they are very eager to boost tuition revenues by enrolling more foreign students, especially from India and China. In fact, Indian students contribute a big share of the funding of US universities. During the 2024-25 academic year, for instance, 363,000 Indians spent at least $24 billion to study in the US.
So, even as job prospects for foreign graduates get worse in the US, American universities are very eager to attract more students from India. Their aggressive recruitment strategies include awarding teaser scholarships, which at best cover only 10 percent to 20 percent of the tuition, not the total costs; enabling foreign students to stay an extra semester or two as a campus intern, for a fee, while they search for jobs in the US; offering dozens of MS programs, more than a hundred at major universities; boosting the capacity of popular STEM classes to enroll more foreigners, with more than one thousand students in some programs; diluting admission standards, and hence the value of the degree, including by no longer requiring scores of the basic Graduate Record Examination; and paying $5,000 or more to admission consultants and agents in India for every student they help enroll.
In India, there are grim stories from relatives, neighbors and friends about students being forced to return, with heavy debt, since they could not find jobs in the US. Some are unable to find work in India. Each day, more such stories are being covered by Indian news sites and on social media posts. They are convincing some students to avoid pursuing US degrees and falling into a debt trap.
Yet, currently several hundred thousand Indians are applying for admissions to US universities for the upcoming 2026-2027 academic year. They should ignore the tiny scholarships, expensive internships and other temptations offered by the universities. To protect themselves and their families from the burden of debt, they should focus on one simple measure: pursue an advanced STEM degree, even from a top US university, only if it can be funded with a loan which can be repaid within ten years, based on a salary earned in India.