Foreign Universities in India: Can India Turn Student Outflow into Opportunity?
By – Dr. Mahaboob Subhani. Shaik University Post-Doctoral Fellow (UPDF)
Department of Mechanical Engineering, SRM University – AP (Amaravati)
India has been one of the largest sources of international students to Canada, the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Australia, and Germany. For many Indian families, irrespective of their financial conditions, pursuing higher education abroad is associated with better academic opportunities, international exposure, an academic and research ecosystem, state-of-the-art facilities, employment opportunities after studies, and, in most cases, migration. As per the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) data, around 1.88 million Indian students were studying in foreign countries as of January 2025. This includes 1.25 million in HEIs, and the above-listed countries account for a substantial share. This data shows a significant outflow of talent to foreign countries, contributing to their technological development and part of their economic growth. This outflow of students also has an economic dimension. As per the RBI data, remittances under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS) for studies abroad were around US$2.92 billion in FY2024 – 25.
In this regard, inviting and establishing foreign university campuses in India is a strategical significant. As per UGC’s 2023 regulatory framework, foreign HEIs which are eligible can establish their campuses in India subject to the regulatory body approval and quality requirements. As of August 2026, the UGC has issued 16 Letters of Intent to the 15 foreign HEIs from countries like Australia, Italy, UK, and US. A few institutions have already started towards operational campuses.
Obviously, one would expect that with the establishment of these campuses can retain the talent, can pursue their higher education in the country and can reduce the expenditure, which otherwise would have gone to overseas. But it does not stop transferring funds to their home country. The intents of the government partially come true, only if, the foreign campuses can substitute the parent university in their home country. Which can take many years to achieve or replicate. If a student who would otherwise have studied at an Indian university simply changes to a foreign-branded campus in India, the policy has increased competition within India’s HEIs sector but has not necessarily reduced India’s overseas student outflow.
We should come out of the mindset; the Indian students do not go to foreign country only for a foreign degree. They go for different reasons: A few are research focussed and may seek for laboratories equipped with advanced research facilities, research opportunities, advance their career, and for networking. Another may be looking for a globally recognized degree. But majority of them are attracted by the part-time opportunities while pursuing their degree, employment opportunities, post-study work rights and for migration, so that it can lower the burden on their family. A foreign campus in India can potentially address a few challenges as mentioned above, but it cannot fully reproduce the experiential learning, experience of working and living in another country.
Though the tuition fees, living costs are higher in the foreign countries, students were able to manage it through part-time opportunities. When the foreign policies are uncertain and restrictive, we have seen the enormous pressure on the students and parents to manage their daily expenses to tuition fees. By establishing the foreign campuses, they can reduce the burden partially.
At the same time, the parent campuses themselves are facing challenges in their home country. Rising tuition and living costs, housing shortages, tighter visa and immigration rules, changing post-study work policies and uncertain employment conditions have made overseas education a more complicated financial and personal decision. It was rightly said that, in the opening remarks by Afifah Darke in the QS World Ranking Report: “The world of education is a complex web of individual aspirations and global forces.” These challenges should not be interpreted as evidence that foreign education is no longer valuable. Rather, they create an opportunity for India to offer a more competitive alternative. The question should therefore not be whether studying abroad is good or bad, but whether India can provide enough of the benefits that students are seeking abroad at a substantially lower total cost and with greater financial and personal security.
As the foreign universities has established their campuses in India, the most important question to ask ourselves is: What exactly is being brought to India: the university’s brand or its academic& research ecosystem?
The government, therefore, has an opportunity to go beyond merely permitting foreign universities to enter India. It should simultaneously strengthen Indian universities so that students have credible choices at home.
The other side of the argument was, that India should not consider that students going abroad are not automatically a national loss or void, instead it should be treated as international exposure or mobility which can bring the technological expertise, global networks, and professional experience which eventually benefit India. But the question is how many are willing to come back or India is facilitating for that? ANRF is putting it efforts, but it is purely one dimension. The objective should not be to prevent students from leaving, but to ensure that leaving is a choice rather than a necessity.
Ultimately, the success of India’s foreign-university policy should not be measured by the number of foreign institutions that open campuses or even by the number of students who enrol in them. The real measure should be how many students who would otherwise have gone abroad choose to stay in India because a genuinely competitive international educational alternative is available here.
