Of the 1.882 million Indian students studying abroad, over 1.254 million are pursuing higher education at international universities and tertiary institutions, while 628,305 are enrolled at the school level.
While overall 2025 numbers hit an all-time high due to the inclusion of school-level students, higher education enrolments fell by 76,000 this year, ending a three-year surge. Over 750,000 Indian students studied at international universities in 2022, rising to 930,000 in 2023 and peaking at 1.33 million in 2024.
Despite Canada’s clampdown on international students, with 74% of Indian study permit applications rejected in August 2025, up from 32% in the same month in 2023, the North American country still hosts the largest number of Indian students in universities and tertiary institutions globally, at 427,085 students.
In the US, despite a 44% drop in study visas for Indian students in August 2025 compared to last year, India remains the largest source country, accounting for over 31% of all international students, with over 255,000 Indian students, according to MEA data.
MEA data also showed that the number of Indian higher education students in key countries, as of 2025: the UK (173,190), Australia (138,579), Germany (59,000), Russia (27,000), Kyrgyzstan (16,500), and Georgia (16,000).
Policy changes in major study destinations are impacting Indian students’ decisions. While Canada plans to cut international study permits by over 50% in 2026, the US continues a hostile stance against international students with nine in 10 students fearing for their visas, and postgraduate enrolments are falling across UK universities, with English institutions facing a potential losses under the new £925-per-international student levy.
Other destinations show mixed trends: Australia has seen a rise in Indian students but remains cautious about fraud and agent misuse, with the recent education reforms bill aiming to address these concerns, while New Zealand has recorded increasing number of study visa applications from India as of October 2025.
“The growth in mobility patterns in the years following the pandemic were driven by the pent-up demand and welcoming post-graduation work and immigration pathways and policies in destinations such as Canada,” Rahul Choudaha, professor and COO at the University of Aberdeen, Mumbai campus told The PIE News.
“However, in 2025, the immigration policies became restrictive in all key destinations starting with the US.”
The decline in Indian students pursuing higher education abroad also follows a sharp fall in study abroad remittances from India between April and August 2025, lowest in eight years, the peak period for such transfers.
Moreover, according to a recent analysis highlighted by Choudaha, the annual cost of studying in the US has risen by Rs 10 lakh (GDP £8,200-£8,300) for Indian students over the past five years, with currency devaluation and tuition hikes pushing the overall cost of studying abroad up 10–12% in 2025.
Higher investment outlay along with dimmer chances of recovering that investment has made Indian students nervous and cautious about studying abroad in 2025
Rahul Choudaha, University of Aberdeen Mumbai campus
“Higher investment outlay along with dimmer chances of recovering that investment has made Indian students nervous and cautious about studying abroad in 2025,” stated Choudaha.
“Universities also need to do more in terms of providing career success and scholarships to students to make ease the barrier of upfront costs and its recovery through employability.”
The rise of destinations such as Germany, Russia, Kyrgyzstan and Georgia signals a shift towards lower-cost, quality STEM and medical education beyond the “big four”, including Indian private and public universities which are serving over 46.5 million higher education students as of 2025.
“Indian universities are more active than ever before in stepping up their recruitment efforts from the home market,” stated Jasminder Khanna, co-founder, Gresham Global.
“Be it recruitments fairs, conferences or even retreats for local feeders, prominent Indian universities are quite at par with the foreign universities in upping their visibility.”
With branch campuses of over 15 international universities, mainly from the US and UK, expected to open in India by the end of 2026, and the system projected to serve over 560,000 Indian students by 2040, Choudaha sees the next three years as crucial for these campuses in absorbing inbound demand amid increasingly restrictive policies.
“The aspirations to gain global learning remain strong while affordability has become a big challenge,” stated Choudaha.
“With over fifteen campuses offering degrees in fall 2026 intake means that a segment of Indian students will consider these options and over time not only the number of campuses will increase but also the program portfolios offered by these campuses.”
Moreover, with 97% of Indian students seeking education that leads directly to jobs, according to research commissioned by City St George’s, University of London and conducted by Arlington Research, crackdowns on post-study work options across major destinations are raising concerns, as lobbying to end Optional Practical Training (OPT) in the US heats up and the UK is already set to cut its Graduate Route visa from two years to 18 months from January 2027.
With “shrinking entry-level jobs and unstable economies marginally slowing the outflow” of students, stakeholders need to think of solutions that address both the study-abroad process and outcomes, Khanna said, to ensure Indian and international students continue to pursue education abroad in huge numbers.
“Reassuring feeders and stakeholders on economic stabilities, local safety, access to meaningful jobs and multi-cultural environments on campuses will bring back some of the lost confidence since the pandemic,” stated Khanna.
“Students and parents also need to understand that recent student visa policy changes worldwide are intended to make traditional study destinations more meaningful, with a stronger focus on quality — and these changes should be welcomed.”
