AA Edit | Telugus lead visa rush for US

More than half of Indians pursuing higher studies in the United States are from the two Telugu states of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. This attests to the pull of the American dream for the Telugu-speaking people.

Data from the US consulate general in Hyderabad revealed that Telangana contributes 34 per cent of Indians getting US student visas, while Andhra Pradesh follows with a close 22 per cent.

According to the Institute of International Education’s 2024 Open Doors Report, India has overtaken China to top the list of nations sending international students to the United States — for the first time after 15 years. In 2023-24, 331,602 Indian students are pursuing higher education in the US, showing an increase of 23 per cent over the previous year, compared to 277,398 students from China.

An overwhelming preference for STEM fields (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) among Indian students reaffirms India’s continued dominance in the field of technology. While 42.9 per cent of Indian students opted to study mathematics or computer science, 24.5 per cent chose engineering.

However, there has been little interest among Indians towards physical or life sciences, which is going to be a new frontier for warfare. The Covid-19 pandemic and allegations about the coronavirus being a laboratory-made pathogen highlights the importance of life sciences.

While studying in the best colleges in the world truly enhances the skill sets and competitiveness of Indians, foreign education does not offer value for money if it is used only as a way to get an American job because the student would continue to be weak in his fundamentals and could be thrown out of the job market at any given moment.

Being the largest contributor of foreign students, India should leverage its influence to make foreign universities set up off-site campuses here as foreign direct investment is allowed in the field of higher education.