The US is aiming to send more of its students to India, said US ambassador to India Eric Garcetti during his address at the annual IC3 conference in Delhi. 

“India became the number one source of higher education students to America for the second year,” said Garcetti, who served as the guest of honour at the conference. 

“Over 1 million students in the US come from this incredible country. But the other way isn’t high enough… It’s one of my goals to bring more American students to India.”

Garcetti highlighted that more US students study in the “beautiful yet small” country of Costa Rica than in India.

According to the Institute of International Education Open Doors Report 2020, over 3,300 US students studied in India in 2018-2019, which further fell to 1,736 students in 2019-20, according to the US Department of State. 

As someone who visited India as a 14-year-old and returned to the country when as a college-going 19-year-old, Garcetti reminisced on his ‘learnings’ from India and the impact an educational journey in the country could have on prospective students.

“When I read many great religious, philosophical, historical texts of India it changed my life and perspective. If we are going to build a human bridge, we have to know each other and understand our histories,” said Garcetti.

“We had more American students study in the beautiful yet small country of Costa Rica rather than a civilisational destination like India.” 

Eric Garcetti, US Ambassador to India.

With scholarships like Fulbright catering to thousands of Indian students, ambassador Garcetti acknowledged the impact of such programs on outbound student mobility. 

“The work that we do…. helps folks to come to research topics of common interest from science, and social sciences to medicine and history,” said Garcetti. 

“I know speaking to people, who have been Fulbright here and have been on that bridge to the US, that our country and experience never left them. This is why our countries invest in that program.” 

As India and the US strengthen their diplomatic relations, education has become a major factor in building the relationship. 

In April 2023, the Association of American Universities launched a task force in line with the U.S.-India initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology. 

The task force, which focuses on expanding United States-India university partnerships, has encouraged more research collaboration, exchanges, internships, and apprenticeships between both the countries. 

Moreover, with many Indian students still preferring the US as their study destination, India has surpassed China as the number one source for international students for the North American country. 

Over 140,000 study visas were issued to US-bound Indian students in 2023, with the number expected to rise in 2024. 

Government-funded organisations such as EducationUSA have been reaching out to students across India to help with their journey towards studying in the US.

“Just over 10,000 students came to our sessions organised through the EducationUSA in half a dozen cities across India,” said Garcetti. 

“The sessions helped them understand the differences between a big state school and a small liberal arts school, how to access financial aid, how to apply for universities so that parents are reassured, campus mental health, and more.”