(Image source from: Financialexpress.com)

The United States is earning nearly Rs 80,000 crore from Indian students, the amount that is double the fund the Central government has earmarked for IITs (Indian Institutes of Technology), NIITs (National Institutes of Information Technology), IIMs (Indian Institutes of Management), and Central Universities along with other institutes in its annual budget.

The money being spent by Indian students yearly for studying in the U.S. is double the budget amount. Notably, this year, country's annual budget for higher education is Rs 35,000 crore.
 
According to the U.S. government's Open Doors Report on the International Educational Exchange, this year 1,96,271 Indians students are studying in the United States.

The report says that an increase of 5.4 percent has been witnessed over the last year, adding that this marks the fifth consecutive year that the total number of Indians pursuing their higher education in the USA has grown, said a report in the Hindustan newspaper.

Related content: Number of Indian Students in U.S. Rises for Fifth Consecutive Year

Of this number, 66 percent or two-thirds are reportedly getting an education at the private higher institutions and are living at places like New York, California, and Massachusetts. 
 
The U.S. is known for charging a higher fee from foreign students. The Times Higher Education, which releases the ranking of higher educational institutions of the world, stated that the tuition fee charged by American higher educational institutes is between Rs 3 lakh to Rs 35 lakh, while the average fee is Rs 23.5 lakh, even as the annual expenditure on education comes about Rs 7.61 lakh.
 
According to an estimate, for any student education expenditure is almost Rs 42 lakh annually. If we take the number of 1,96,271 Indians students studying in the United States, it comes around Rs 85,010 crore.

The report stated that more than 90 percent of students come to the U.S. to study subjects like Computer Science, Mathematics, Management, Science and medical which has more fee than other subjects. 
 
If we spare a few thousand students who went to the U.S. on scholarship, then this year Indian students studying in the U.S. are spending more than Rs 80,000 crore, the report added.
 
Remarkably, Indian students form virtually 18 percent of all international students in the USA, sitting next only to China. India provided the second highest amount of graduate students and fourth-most undergraduates.

-Sowmya Sangam