This week, the rupee reached a new record low against the US dollar, reaching the 80 level. In accordance with official figures, more than 13.24 lakh Indian students pursued higher education overseas, with the majority of them going to the United States (4.65 lakh), followed by Canada (1.83 lakh), the United Arab Emirates (1.64 lakh), and Australia (1.09 lakh), among others. A declining rupee, in the opinion of Arijit Sanyal, MD and CEO of HDFC Credila, will raise the cost of education for an Indian student planning to pursue an international education.
“From the standpoint of an education loan lender, this would lead to greater ticket sizes since a borrower would need to avail a higher sum to pay overall expenditures, such as the tuition fees and supplementary costs. However, if the borrower earns in dollars at the moment and is in the loan repayment stage, it could be simpler for them to get money “explained Sanyal. The two primary costs associated with studying abroad for students are tuition and living expenses. As a result of the rupee’s recent losses, fees and living expenses have increased since one dollar now costs more in rupees than it did previously.
The costs are much higher for students planning to study in the USA because they now have to pay the tuition fees and living expenses in dollars, while the euro and GBP have appreciated against the rupee and, as a result, have decreased the cost of education for Indian students in the UK and Europe, according to Prashant A. Bhonsle, founder of Kuhoo Fintech, an online student loan platform. It’s fantastic news for Indian students who graduated, got jobs, made money, and sent it home to settle loans or for living expenses, the man added.
Comparison of historical data can show the huge rise in burden caused by the depreciation of the rupee. A student from India who paid tuition in 2017 at a cost of about 65 rupees to the dollar may now have to spend between 77 and 80 rupees. Credenc.com founder Avinash Kumar claimed that every time the rupee depreciates by a particular amount, the cost of everything—including university fees, living expenses, and airline tickets—increases. A student whose one-semester fee was USD 40,000 previously paid Rs 29.52 lakh in January 2022 when 1USD=73.8 INR, currently needs to pay Rs 31.92 lakh because the rupee has reached 79.83 against the US dollar. You are looking at a staggering cost of Rs 41 lakh for one semester with living expenditures of about USD 9000 per semester (INR 7,18,000) and travel expenses of INR 90,000 to INR 1,00,000.