Edtech

The American Dream fueled an industry. Can it survive without it?

Nikhil Patwardhan

Parvathi Benu

September 23, 2025 | 10 Min Read

A $100,000 shock from Washington has jolted the Indian student dream. For decades, a US degree was the golden ticket to jobs, migration, and mobility. Now, consultancies, financiers, and families built on that belief must reckon with an uncertain future.

On the evening of September 17, a 22-year-old engineering graduate from Mumbai—let’s call him S—finally clicked “submit” on his master’s application for the Fall 2026 intake at a US university. For most, it is just another form filed online. But for S and his parents, it was the culmination of years of sacrifice: savings stretched, loans considered, visa paperwork discussed over dinner and family arguments and eventually resolved.

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The American Dream fueled an industry. Can it survive without it?

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