In September 2025, as the monsoon rain slowed over New Delhi, 24-year-old Priya Patel stood on the balcony of her family’s small apartment and looked out at the grey skyline. She had done everything right. A fresh B.Tech degree from IIT Delhi, two solid years at a tech company and a planned MBA abroad — the United States or Canada. The golden route that had shaped so many careers before hers. But by the end of 2025, that dream no longer felt steady. And Priya was not alone.
By December 2025, Priya had made her choice. Her final applications were not sent to the US or Canada. Instead, she applied to programs in Singapore, Germany, and one leading Indian business school. She ran the numbers carefully, the education quality was comparable, the cost was far lower. The work pathways seemed clearer. Most importantly, her future would not depend on one unpredictable visa decision.
At the same time, the gradual shift was showing up in global data too. In its 2026 white paper titled “The great re-routing of global business talent,” the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) revealed how Indian students, “continue to play an outsized role in shaping global trends.” But something had changed. Their growing interest in Asia and Europe, and their more cautious approach toward the United States and Canada, showed they were weighing more options than before.
Indian students rethink the American dream: 45% drop at US universities
By early 2025, several students secured admissions from top schools in Boston and Toronto. Deposits were paid, suitcases were packed. And then the trouble began. Visa interviews were delayed, some were deniedm others were stuck in long backlogs with no clarity. According to the GMAC report, “in the Americas, nearly 90 percent of programs reported India as the top country from which international students submitted deposits but did not matriculate.”
Across the US higher education sector, there was “a 45 percent drop in students from India” by August 2025. Overall new international enrollments were down 19 percent. Visa backlogs, slow processing, and changing immigration signals under the new US administration made the entire process feel like a gamble. At the same time, Canada tightened study permits. Even students with strong profiles felt unsure.
Fewer students heading to the US, Canada and the UK
GMAC’s 2025 Application Trends Survey shows a pattern. International applications increased in Europe (excluding the UK) and across Asia. But they fell in Canada, the UK and the US. The drop in international demand was stronger than any rise in domestic applications in these countries.
Western Europe also saw growing interest. Preference for the region rose six percentage points in just one year. Countries like Germany, Ireland and France offered English-taught programs at lower costs, clearer post-study work rules, and more predictable government intake policies.
In the Asia-Pacific region, 54% of programmes said they saw higher international enrolment in fall 2025 compared to the year before. In contrast, two-thirds of programmes in the Americas reported declines.
Visa trouble is playing a major role. Nearly 90% of programmes in the Americas said India was among the top countries where students paid their admission deposits but did not finally join. The main reasons were visa delays, visa denials, or students holding multiple offers while waiting for clarity. “In the Americas, nearly 90 percent of programs reported India and almost 50 percent reported China and Nigeria as the top countries from which international students submitted deposits but did not matriculate. In many cases this could be because these students’ visas were delayed or formally denied, or candidates paid deposits to multiple institutions.”
GMAC’s Prospective Students Survey shows how preferences have shifted over time. In 2019, 57% of non-US candidates preferred to study in the US. In 2025, that number dropped to 42%.
Business schools in Canada, the US and the UK have highlighted visa policy changes and geopolitical tensions as major reasons for falling applications. Canada’s 2024 cap on international study permits caused sharp drops in both applications and approvals. Enrolments remained well below the permitted levels. In the UK, restrictions on dependents and a shorter post-study work period led to a 12% drop in processed student visas in 2024. Australia, too, felt the impact. Its National Planning Level policy resulted in a 16% fall in enrolments in the first half of 2025.
A quiet shift back in India
While the US and Canada cooled, other places were heating up. The GMAC report pointed to a 25 percent rise in international applications to graduate management education programs in India. Students were beginning to see the value in staying closer to home. Program quality had improved, costs were lower, families were nearby.
Apart from immigration bottlenecks associated with foreign education, another big reason is the falling rupee value against US dollar, Euro, British pound, and the Japanese Yen. “Lower purchasing power for higher education abroad adds further incentive for Indian GME students to study closer to home, further exacerbating the formal and informal deterrents to international study previously discussed,” the study stated. As a result, students are thinking harder about tuition fees, living costs and job prospects after graduation.
The paper highlights a stark turnaround. Interestingly, more than two-in-five Indian business schools now listed the United States as their top source of international talent. The flow, in many ways, was reversing.