India’s latest wave of student migration marks a decisive shift that is no longer confined to elite universities or programmes that are fully funded. Today’s migration is characterised by self-financed education where middle-class households invest heavily in the promise of a global degree and upward social mobility. In Ministry of External Affairs data, more than 13.2 lakh Indian students were enrolled in over 70 countries by 2023, which rose to 13.35 lakh in 2024, and projected to reach 13.8 lakh in 2025.
India is one of the top senders of international students, with the United States and Canada as the top destinations (40%), followed by the United Kingdom, Australia and Germany. This significant development is reflected in the report of the Parliamentary Committee on the Welfare of Indian Diaspora (2022) which engages with students as one of India’s major diaspora categories.
The true picture
While all this is seen by some as a democratisation of foreign education, with doors opening to students from different socio-economic classes, the reality is more complex. Many of these students are channelled into lower-tier institutions and vocational colleges, into courses often unrelated to their expertise and without much job prospects, due to recruitment agencies that operate in a grey legal zone. The partnership between recruitment networks and less credible private colleges abroad is driven primarily by commissions and profit, reflecting the largely unregulated expansion of the foreign education industry.
The outcome is widespread deskilling and underemployment, with many graduates unable to transition into skilled work. In the U.K., what were once polytechnics have become universities post 1992 that cater primarily to international students, sometimes waiving entry requirements and triggering controversy due to declining academic standards. Reports suggest that approximately only one in four Indian postgraduates in the U.K. secures a sponsored skilled visa.
Student migration from India represents a middle-class aspiration with significant risks. Kerala, historically defined by Gulf labour migration, illustrates this transformation as the Kerala Migration Survey (KMS) 2023 reports that student migration doubled in five years, from 1.29 lakh in 2018 to 2.5 lakh in 2023, which is 11.3% of total emigrants. Outward student remittances from Kerala are estimated at ₹43,378 crore, equivalent to about 20% of total inward remittances from labour migrants.
Reverse remittance
Most students migrate through self-financing or education loans, often mortgaging family property, with the hope of better employment and higher wages that would repay debts and enable higher living standards. However, for many, this journey ends in debt, underemployment or forced return, a phenomenon that economists describe as reverse remittances, where Indian households subsidise foreign economies.
Foreign students contribute significantly to host economies. In Canada, international students contributed about $30.9 billion to GDP in 2022, supporting over 3,61,000 jobs. In 2023, Canada hosted over 4,27,000 Indian students, which is roughly 45% of international enrolments. In the U.S., roughly 4,00,000 Indian students, in 2024, spent an estimated $7 billion-$8 billion annually on tuition, housing and living costs, sustaining universities and local economies.
Across destinations, students shoulder substantial financial burdens, sometimes to the tune of ₹40 lakh-₹50 lakh, to finance studies abroad. Rising rents, restricted working hours, and visa caps exacerbate financial and mental strains. Unable to find skilled work, many take up low-wage unskilled jobs, often juggling multiple part-time jobs, sometimes undocumented, to work longer hours, and facing exploitation. Restrictive visa rules, limited post-study employment options and a lack of placement support from low-ranked colleges exacerbate this downward mobility. For instance, until 2024, the U.K. allowed students to convert student visas into care visas, offering a survival route in a tight job market, but this pathway has since become impossible due to new restrictions.
The local context
This outflow of students needs to be understood within the domestic context that is driving it. Is it the perceived lack of quality in domestic institutions or an inability to find well-paid domestic employment? With foreign universities establishing offshore campuses in Dubai, Singapore, and other destinations offering western degrees at lower costs, it is telling that Indian students rarely choose them. The reason is more structural. For many, studying in OECD countries is not only about education but about permanent residency, social mobility and an escape from a third world identity.
Ironically, this wave of student migration has also created a new form of cheap labour for OECD countries, akin to Gulf labour migration except that it is now accompanied by reverse remittances often financed through savings and debt.
This rapid expansion of Indian student migration exposes deep systemic contradictions between aspiration and outcome, and between opportunity and exploitation, resulting in a phenomenon that can be described as brain waste. It calls for stronger regulation of education agents, pre-departure counselling, and bilateral frameworks to ensure institutional accountability abroad.
Ginu Zacharia Oommen is Chairperson , Kerala State Food Commission. Anu Abraham is Senior Researcher, Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO)
Published – December 18, 2025 12:08 am IST
