As the study abroad slowdown worsens, India’s edtech exporters are scrambling

For one 33-year-old from Jaipur, moving to the US seemed more like an inevitability than a dream earlier this year when he was admitted to Kent State University for a graduate programme. With extended family already settled in the US, he’d been pushed to make the move for years now, following the oft-travelled route of studying in the US, finding a job there post graduation, and eventually settling there permanently.

That calculus, however, changed with the shifting sands of US power and policy. With Donald Trump coming to power, a wave of anti-immigrant sentiment has swept the US. In March, a Republican lawmaker put forward the Fairness for High-Skilled Americans Act of 2025, which would curb the ability of migrant students to find work in the country after completing their studies. 

While the Bill is yet to be passed, even the prospect of such a move was enough for the 33-year-old Jaipur resident to scrap their plans altogether. “If I don’t get to extend my visa and land a job, I’d be in serious trouble. My higher education counsellor, too, wasn’t very confident about it,” they told The CapTable.