US visa: Indians among highest foreign students in America, but jobs remain concern; Reddit user says, ‘It’s a scam’

Indian students comprise the largest international student group in the United States, outnumbering students from other countries.

The number of international student records from India and China made Asia the most popular continent of origin. India sent 80,469 more students, while China sent 6,169 more students, according to data from The Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP), a part of US Homeland Security Investigations.

In 2023, 377,620 Indian students were studying in US.

Indian students contribute around $14 billion per year to the US. However, they face certain hurdles in this cash-making industry.

In a recent post on Reddit, a user explained the worries of Indian students pursuing Masters in the US. The US based Reddit user shared her experience of pursuing Masters degree in Computer Science at an average University in US.

"I immediately realised that the students in the programme were 99% Indian, Which is obviously pretty rare in a US school to have that many non-American students," she said.

After talking to her classmates, she realised many Indians chose the US to pursue higher education to secure a visa and a job. But the Reddit user feels it is difficult to get a job in the US due to competition.

"I kind of feel like it's going to be really hard for all of these kids to get jobs in the US—it's already hard for American kids," she said. 

The social media user claimed that she herself got a job in Data Science through connections after months of searching. “Anyway from my observations I think this is kind of a scam these Indian kids are falling victim to,” the user said.

Another concern for Indian students is funding education.

“They are coming here going into debt, the professors aren’t even good, and they probably won’t be able to get a job in the us. I feel bad for them honestly,” the user stated.

Apart from jobs and finances, another issue that Indian students face is cultural differences.

"The other thing is the Indian kids have brutal classroom etiquette; they are loudly talking while the professor is, which would never ever be tolerated in a typical American classroom," she said, reflecting on the problem of adjusting to international students.