In 2025, more than 100 Indian students at Harvard were served deportation notices over technicalities in SEVIS registration, sparking outrage across student and academic circles globally.
The problem isn’t new. In Q1 of 2025, Canada slashed Indian study permits by 31%, leaving 14,000+ aspiring students stranded.
Australia’s top universities are now unofficially blacklisting six Indian states from recruitment.
What started as political regulation has now ballooned into systemic denial—Indian students are being filtered not by capability, but by postcode.
A Crisis of Access, Not Ambition
Despite being the largest source of international students globally, Indian learners now face an unpredictable and often hostile environment abroad:
- Over 1.3 million Indian students study abroad (2024)
- 72% of Indian students prefer Big Four countries (US, UK, Canada, Australia)
- 15% decline in international enrolments from India recorded in 2024 vs 2023
Indian students continue to seek global-quality education, even when policies turn cold.
Is the West Still the Gateway to Global Education?
With sky-high tuition, crushing housing crises, and rising visa rejections, the Western promise of education is no longer a guaranteed path for Indian students.
And yet, the demand for global education in India has never been higher.
The Real Solution: Bring the Education To India
Why international institutions are now entering India:
- 15 foreign universities (including Deakin, UOW, King’s College London, and many others) are opening campuses in India in 2025 alone
- India’s higher ed market will reach $225 billion by 2026
- NEP 2020 allows foreign institutions to establish campuses independently, supported by the University Grants Commission (UGC)
- EdTech in India is booming, projected to grow to $10 billion by 2027
Opportunity for Global Education Providers
Instead of waiting for unstable visa reforms and regulatory bottlenecks, forward-thinking education companies and institutions are now exploring direct entry into India.
Imagine what your platform, curriculum, or school could achieve if:
- You had access to 300M+ school & higher-ed students
- You worked with India’s 83K+ educational institutions
- You partnered with 1.8K+ EdTech resellers and 51K+ teachers
(Verified data point: India Market Entry internal research, 2024)
IME: Bridging Global Solutions with Indian Demand
While this blog is not promotional in nature, it’s worth noting that players like India Market Entry (IME) are making international education truly accessible to Indian learners—minus the socio-political drama of visa systems.
With success stories like OneHE, We Skoolhouse, ICA, Better Together Cubed, Earth Cubs, etc. IME is enabling global education leaders to expand in India with agility, compliance, and scale.
So, Ask Yourself…
- Why restrict world-class learning to borders when India has the learners ready?
- Will your institution wait for regulations to ease—or lead the way into a $200B+ market?
- If not now, when?
Final Thought
The next education superpower won’t be built through migration.
It’ll be built through collaboration, local access, and global content—right here in India.
Would you like help navigating your India journey?
Let’s talk.
Sources:
- Financial Express, May 2025
- Business Today
- CNBC TV18
- New Indian Express
- IBEF Report, 2024
- KPMG India Education Report
