Indian Students in America: 83,000 and counting!

By: Jennifer Kumar

The thought of coming to America for higher education is not uncommon for many foreigners. In fact, some foreign students, such as Saudis must come to U.S. to complete higher studies as facilities may not be available in their own country for all subjects of study. Still other students come to America because it may not only be ‘familiar’ or ‘exotic’ or provide better job opportunities back in their own countries, but because the competition to get into top colleges in their own countries is so fierce that they are compelled to apply and study at top notch universities in US where seats are more ‘readily available.’

Photo credit: Jared Chapman at Flickr.

It is only recently due to blogging and other forms of online communication that students are able to immediately share some of the experiences as they land on U.S. soil with the world. Recently, as I read Ravi Kumar Assudani’s experiences of orientation at Stanford University, I began thinking about the experiences of Indian students in U.S.

In current times, it may be rare for an Indian student to be the first from his or her family to come to America. From personal experiences I have heard and people I have met, I know about Indians coming to America for at least the last 60 years for the purpose of higher studies. The total number of students would be staggering, with the experiences of each individual is unique and interesting. However, if you wanted to know the individual experiences of each Indian student to land in U.S. during 2006-2007, you would be reading almost 84,000 stories! According to the Institute of International Education, Indian students outnumber all other ethnicities by over 15,000. (source)

Somehow that doesn’t surprise me. A few weeks ago while walking around Rochester Institute of Technology campus during student orientation, I met an Indian student from the computer science department who told me, “I will not feel lonely here. I will always find someone with something in common with me, it seems the entire computer science department is full of desis!” Desis (pronounced day-seas), the colloquial term used between Indians to identify each other (meaning from the land, from India), are everywhere on college campuses in US, including RIT where they outnumber any other ethnic group by at least 5:1 (source).

Recently, The Hindu Newspaper released an article in its Education Plus Coimbatore section exploring the benefits of studying in U.S. This article not only compared some of the differences between the Indian and American educational models, but highlighted how some differences in the U.S. educational system are better suited to a “globalised world” (source) The title of the article also hints to this change, as it entices readers through claiming ‘U.S. Education Encourages Innovation.’ Being a product of both American and Indian educational systems as an American, in my limited experience, I do agree that the American system can afford more room for innovation than the Indian. However, I think this is all changing with the increase over the last especially five years of twinning programs (aka 2+2 programs) and the settling American and foreign educational programs within India’s colleges. Though this can set a tone for globalizing the educational system, I hope it will allow for free flow of ideas between systems and not the accepting of all things Western or American over Indian. There are some good qualities of both systems and if married, the best qualities will bring a new improved globalized education on Indian soil, maybe tipping the balance. Could an innovation in India’s educational system encourage more foreigners (Americans?) to study and earn degrees in India while Indians continue in increasing numbers to come here (America)?

Let’s see what the future brings.

Thank you for reading. Share your thoughts below.

Related Articles/Sites:

Coffee with Sundar: Follow Sundar as he interviews interesting Indian personalities, including Indians studying abroad. Interviews often give helpful advice on applying to U.S. universities, how to get funding and other related topics.

Information for International Students provided by SEVIS - Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) maintained by the US. Government. This is a very useful page on all stages of being an international student in US. Many documents are translated into the top languages of international students.

More Foreign Students – Everywhere. Published on insidehighered.com, November 12, 2007.

Open Doors 2007: Report on International Educational Exchange. Published by Open Doors//Institute of International Education. Hey-Kyung Koh Chin, Rajika, Ph.D. Bhandari, Authors.

Ravi Kumar Assudani’s experiences of orientation at Stanford University posted on “Applying to US Universities” (blog).

Rochester Institute of Technology International Student Services.

SEVIS Fact Page hosted by the International Student and Scholar Service at Portland State University.

Twinnings (2+2) Programs Gain Popularity Between China and Canada, Jennifer Kumar, Study Abroad News (Blog), December 19, 2007.

University for Persons of Indian Origin in India, Study in India (Blog), August 14, 2008.

US Education Encourages Innovation. R. Krishnamoorthy. The Hindu Newspaper, September 15, 2008. From “Education Plus Coimbatore’ supplement. (Read from RSS Feed here.)