Will the Weakening Rupee Ground Indian Students’ Dreams of Studying Abroad? – Newz9

In immediately’s more and more aggressive market, pursuing greater training has turn out to be important for college kids in search of a profitable profession. For years, many college students have chosen to review overseas, with the United States rising as one of the hottest locations on account of its globally acknowledged universities. From the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), ranked at the prime of the QS World University Rankings for 2025, to Harvard University, which constantly stays in the prime 5, the US boasts quite a few prestigious establishments reminiscent of Yale, Stanford, and Princeton.
However, gaining admission to those universities is neither straightforward nor reasonably priced.The US training system, coupled with the rising value of training loans, presents a monetary problem for a lot of college students. This raises the query: Is finding out overseas, notably in the US, the proper alternative relating to monetary help? Before we reply this query, let’s have a look at the worth of 1 USD in INR in the final 5 years:
The following have been the worth of 1 USD compared to INR in the final 5 years (2019-2024):

(Source: bankbazaar.com)
It is effectively-identified that almost all college students pursuing training overseas take out loans except they safe scholarships. Typically, college students apply for loans two to a few months earlier than their course begins. According to a report by The Economic TimesIndian college students taking out training loans might face greater prices on account of the rupee’s depreciation towards the greenback, notably with Donald Trump assuming workplace in the US.
Between January and July 2024, over 1.3 million college students went overseas to review, recommend authorities information. The rupee’s depreciation, mixed with uncertainties surrounding tariffs and rates of interest, is anticipated to step by step enhance training mortgage prices by 3-5% yearly.
Furthermore, the Union Budget 2024-25, introduced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, included a number of initiatives for the home training system, with an allocation of Rs. 1.48 lakh crore. However, a urgent query stays: Has finding out overseas turn out to be dearer with the new funds?
While the funds has been praised for the allocation to home greater training, it introduces a brand new problem for college kids pursuing training overseas by means of modifications in the Tax Collection at Source (TCS) provisions. TCS is a tax collected by sellers at the time of sale, and below the new funds, this impacts abroad training bills.
For loans taken for worldwide research, the TCS charge shall be nil for quantities as much as Rs. 7 lakh. However, for bills exceeding Rs. 7 lakh, a 0.5% TCS will apply. For college students self-financing their training, the TCS charge is nil as much as Rs. 7 lakh, however 5% will apply on quantities exceeding this threshold.
For instance, if a pupil spends Rs. 10 lakh on training overseas, the TCS shall be relevant solely on the Rs. 3 lakh exceeding the Rs. 7 lakh restrict. While this modification might ease money move for workers by means of credit score towards TDS, it will increase the monetary burden on self-financed college students pursuing greater training overseas.