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Indian nationals make up the largest share of foreign students in the United States, but a series of moves by the Trump administration, including more scrutiny of student visas, is making many Indian students reconsider their dreams of studying in America. NPR's Omkar Khandekar reports from Mumbai.
OMKAR KHANDEKAR, BYLINE: Twenty-year-old engineering student Kaustubh always wanted to study aeronautics. Five years ago, he toured Stanford University while visiting relatives. It blew his mind.
KAUSTUBH: When I saw what kind of life, what kind of, you know, freedom the students over there enjoy, I cannot express the quality of education that you get over there.
KHANDEKAR: We're only using Kaustubh's first name because of concerns over being targeted and prevented from coming to the U.S. He says he has done everything to qualify for a master's program at Stanford. He scored high grades. He designed model airplanes. He also interned at India's best known airline manufacturer. But he says the Trump administration's hard-line immigration policy...
KAUSTUBH: It's kind of shattering my dream of studying in the Stanford.
KHANDEKAR: Many of his peers share that feeling. When President Trump secured a second term, many in India celebrated and prayed for his success.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: (Chanting in non-English language).
KHANDEKAR: Trump and India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi have called each other friends. But less than a month into Trump's presidency, his administration began deporting hundreds of Indians who it said had entered the country illegally. And last month, the U.S. suspended new student visa appointments and began scrutinizing their social media accounts. Sudhanshu Kaushik is the executive director of the North American Association of Indian Students. He says, many Indians think it is part of the ongoing culture war in America.
SUDHANSHU KAUSHIK: I think that they want to push as much as possible to make it as homogeneous as they can.
KHANDEKAR: And, he says, it doesn't make much economic sense. Indians contribute more than $8 billion to the U.S. economy and form the backbone of leading tech companies. Anand Shankar is a co-founder of Learners Cortex, which helps Indian students apply to foreign universities. He says some of his students told him they are willing to wait until 2028.
ANAND SHANKAR: They really want this presidency to end.
KHANDEKAR: Others have given up plans to study in the U.S. for now, like Nihar Gokhale, a journalist from Delhi. Earlier this year, he says a university in Massachusetts withdrew its offer to him for a Ph.D. program, saying the government had cut back on their research funding. Gokhale says, United States has long relied on the ingenuity of foreign students.
NIHAR GOKHALE: Graduate students and Ph.D. students are the best brains that you can get.
KHANDEKAR: And, he says, cracking down on them won't help Trump's goal to make America great again. Omkar Khandekar, NPR News, Mumbai. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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