Though off and on adverse media reports about the treatment of Indian students in the US surface, it continues to attract Indian students. And the fact that nearly 1 lakh Indian students are currently in the US proves that.
But what has been causing concern to the parents of these students in recent times is the rapid fall in the value of the rupee against the dollar, which has pushed up the cost of education in the US.
This has forced at least some of the parents to look at alternative destinations such as the UK or Australia to educate their wards.
Earlier, the IT industry was sore earlier over the high rejection rates of US visas for Indian professionals.
The speed with which the HIB visa quota gets filled up is used as an indication of the job prospects in the US. In 2011, the HIB visas issued in India outstripped that of the previous year.
Mr Nicholas J. Manring, Chief of Consular Services at the US Consulate General, Chennai, in an interview to Business Line , corrects the perception about rejection of US visas for IT professionals and says the demand for HIB visas is hotting up again.
You had mentioned that the applications for student visas from India rose last year compared to the previous year. But because of the rise in the value of the dollar, we hear the Indian students are finding it difficult to meet the rising cost of education there. Do you expect the number of students from India going to the US to fall this year?
I actually expect the number of Indian students going to colleges and universities in the US to go up in 2012.
I see more schools from the US coming to India to attract good students at college fairs and the like, and more Indian students are becoming aware of the quality education they can obtain at American schools. Most American colleges and universities have financial aid programmes which will help to offset the rise in costs due to the changing currency exchange rate.
What are the US varsities doing to mitigate the problem, such as offering more scholarships, increasing the scholarship amount, and so on?
Universities and colleges in the US have decades of experience with foreign students and can easily factor changing currency exchange rates into the financial aid they offer students from abroad.
Though the US has been facing problems on the economy front for the past two years, more Indian students went there last year. What was the reason for that? In percentage terms, how many Indian students stay back after completing the course?
To keep the students' focus on their studies, student visa-holders are only allowed to work in limited situations — for example, part-time on the college campus or certain practical training programmes tied to their course of study. As such, unless they are participating in an authorised work or practical training programme, they must leave the US at the end of their studies.
Are US universities looking at the possibility of forging tie-ups with Indian universities to open centres in India? What benefits do they hope to gain from such ventures? When do you expect that to happen?
There are a number of US universities already with tie ups with Indian universities. We see this as a benefit for both Indians and Americans, who are able to participate in exchange programmes and obtain dual degrees in two+two or other programmes.
At the first US-India Educational Summit, held in Washington D.C. in October 2011, the HRD Minister, Mr Kapil Sibal, and the Secretary of State, Ms Hillary Clinton, reinforced the importance and value of increasing collaboration between schools.
Due to cost increases, it was reported that Indian students are looking at going to the UK, Australia and Singapore for higher studies. How do the US varsities plan to meet this situation?
American universities are actively recruiting good students in India and will continue to do so.
There were reports that the rate of US visa rejection faced by Indian IT professionals has been on the rise. What are the reasons for that? Has the problem been sorted out?
There has been no increase in the visa refusal rate for applicants in India and, in fact, more IT professionals are travelling to the US from India than ever before. As long as employers send applicants who meet the legal requirements of the visa category, the visas are approved.
It is said that the quota for H1B visa, which used to be filled up fast, remained unfilled for long last year. How do you expect the situation to be this year, now that the US economy seems to be recovering?
The annual quota for new H1B visas has already been met for this year. Here, in India, we issued 24 per cent more H1B visas in 2011 than we did in 2010, so we see a strong demand for this specialised work visa here.