Campus calls

Pressures on US universities could be India's opportunity

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American President Donald Trump's crackdown on foreign students has opened up an opportunity for India. With the United States (US) cancelling the visas of hundreds of international students for reasons that range from the political to the trivial, the allure of a US university and perhaps the American dream for Indian students are now fraught with uncertainty. Since immigration is also a Trump pet peeve, the latter advantage, too, is likely to be nullified. The withdrawal of state funding for key projects to Ivy League institutions such as Harvard and Columbia will also pressure these institutions for whom foreign students are a key source of revenue. These multiple uncertainties could well be India's chance to significantly upgrade the domestic university ecosystem by attracting marquee institutions of higher learning to Indian shores, just as China started doing decades ago.