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The Great American Campus Dilemma

In an email exchange with Saikat Majumdar, Ashoka University professor and former faculty at Stanford, Satish Padmanabhan of Outlook raised a few questions.

Tense Atmosphere: Students of Harvard University hold a protest against the deportation of international students during their graduation ceremony on May 29, 2025 | Photo: Getty Images

US President Donald Trump has gone after America’s Ivy League colleges, including freezing funding of $2.2 billion to the prestigious Harvard University. His administration feels these universities are sympathetic to the Palestinian cause, to immigrants and are pro-diversity. Harvard at least is fighting back, taking the administration to court. Many other colleges have succumbed to Trump’s pressure tactics. As a result, Indian students face an uncertain future in the US. In this scenario, will American higher education remain viable for Indian middle-class students, many of who take hefty study loans? Should they look at other options? In an email exchange with Saikat Majumdar, Ashoka University professor and former faculty at Stanford, Satish Padmanabhan of Outlook raises these questions. Excerpts.

Q

Why do US colleges remain attractive options for students from all over the world? Is this education really worth the price? Have things changed over the years?

A

Apart from the obvious academic heft of US universities, which are largely concentrated in the top-tier colleges, what really distinguishes American undergraduate education on the whole is innovative curriculum and pedagogy—which is shared by colleges across the spectrum, from top Ivies to community colleges. A broad liberal arts education as interdisciplinary, crossing boundaries between the humanities, social and natural sciences and creating the depth + range (T) model vs the depth-only (I) model, is part of this approach that is unique to the US. This kind of education is the potential foundation for a wide range of careers, from research to productive corporate citizenship and careers in policy, and politics and entrepreneurship. Even the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) offers a diversified curriculum to train well-rounded engineers, something which some of the IITs have sought to recreate. Most of the rest of the world follow the model we know in India—entering a college to specialise in a single subject. However, the American model of broad-based, interdisciplinary liberal arts education is increasingly becoming popular in Asia.

Q

In the present acrimonious environment, what are the biggest challenges to US college education?

A

The biggest challenge now is clearly the attack on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in higher education launched by the Trump administration. Plurality and diversity, in the intellectual, social, and political sense, have been synonymous to innovative, interdisciplinary education at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. The attack on DEI is an attack on the core principles of this education. And obviously, such attacks are particularly harmful for international students; even more so for those who are not white.

The committed programme for the diversification of the student body that many US universities have been seriously following over the years stands to be undone in one blow—indeed, the process is already well underway. Some universities are trying to fight back, often at a great cost to themselves.

The Harvard struggle, and the federal government’s funding cut and moratorium on international admissions is now well known. But according to many, even more dangerous is the more recent, and less discussed, forced resignation of the President of the University of Virginia (UVA), Jim Ryan, under pressure from the government, who accused him of carrying on DEI measures under different names. UVA is one of the most visible and prestigious public universities in the US. The forced resignation of a much-admired President of a leading public university on the allegation of not discontinuing DEI measures as directed is a deeply ominous sign for students of colour, both from within and outside the United States.

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“Students are being pushed to frantically scrub their social media timelines to cleanse them off any position that comes across as Left or even liberal.”
Q

Is the political climate a major threat to international students from countries such as India?

A

It’s a terrible threat to them. Students are being pushed to frantically scrub their social media timelines to cleanse them off any position that comes across as Left or even liberal. If this purgation is not carried out to perfection, their visa applications stand to be rejected. If you have a real conscience and are outspoken, then there is a good chance the doors will close on you. What kind of a student body will this create? There is also the question of employment after graduation.

The current US government, as with Right-wing governments all over the world, is harsh on immigration, which takes a toll on permits for temporary training/internship and work after completing college and university degrees. However, on this, the policies seem a bit unclear—Trump seems to be hard and heavy on illegal immigration and the rights of undocumented immigrants, but has claimed that he continues to seek qualified professionals under the H-1B programme, about which he has spoken highly.

International students graduating from US universities, who may seek jobs afterwards, are likeliest to come under the H-1B programme. But either way, it is not a friendly climate for prospective immigrants, which includes students.

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Q

Has the fall in prospects of employment affected the appeal of US universities?

A

Definitely. For many students, the great appeal of an American degree is the heightened possibility of being able to work in the US and make a life and career there. Perhaps this is even more true in Canada, where immigration has traditionally been easier than in the US—though job prospects have always been better in the latter. So not just in the US, all over the western world, as Right-wing governments tighten anti-immigration measures, they also indirectly affect college applications.

Q

If doors start to close in the US, what other higher education options remain for Indian students?

A

Europe has risen in popularity. But higher education experience in Europe is very different from that in North America. The European experience is possibly closer to what we have here in India. The UK has always been popular though it’s also struggling with a host of problems of its own, including those around fees. The lecture-based British pedagogy is also much like the Indian classroom. So, on the whole, for students seeking the American college experience, neither Europe nor the UK are real replacements.

However, there are other factors. I think the quality of life is much better and far more interesting in Europe, and that is also a valuable part of the college experience. But there is the obvious language gap—Anglophone countries are easier for Indian students to navigate than countries with other languages. Then again, fees are much, much lower in Europe than in the US, and in some instances, higher education is free, as in Germany and Austria.

Even private, American-style universities, such as the Central European University, where I’m currently in residence as a Senior Fellow, charges fees that are much lower than US private and even many public schools. Australia and New Zealand have also been popular destinations, as well as neighbouring options in east and Southeast Asia, such as Singapore and Hong Kong. And finally, there are a few private liberal arts universities in India now that offer a very similar educational experience to what you would get in the US, but tailored to local needs and conditions. My own university, Ashoka, is a pioneer in this space, and we have been experiencing higher volume of applications, both at the undergraduate and the graduate levels.

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Q

Would you advise students to go to US colleges in the current situation?

A

Yes. I would say if you’ve gotten into the college or university of your choice, and if the finances work out, you should go. Having studied and worked in the US for 15 years, I have great faith in its institutions, and particularly its universities, which, as I said, are still the very best in the world (though China is coming up very fast in fields of science and technology, particularly AI research, and will overtake the US soon in these fields). Besides, whatever socio-political conscience is still left in the US, which seems to be relentlessly turning intolerant, appears to be mostly concentrated in its universities.

The universities have always been islands of intellectual ambition and cosmopolitanism in that country that can otherwise be very provincial and anti-intellectual. As we are seeing, the universities are trying very hard to protect their unique qualities against the administrative and political onslaught, though it’s increasingly turning out to be a losing battle. And there are many reasons behind their failure that long predate this government. But no matter. If you’ve got an offer from an institution of your choice and if the funding works out whichever way (aid/scholarship or self/family finance), you should certainly go. After all, the current government will last only four years, and already some tides seem to be turning against them...

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Q

But is the US now a socially a safe space for Indian students? Will they face heightened racism or anti-immigrant hostility?

A

This is a little hard for me to say with conviction. Since I left the US to move to India, I’ve only returned there to deliver lectures and once, as a Fellow at an institute, so I was never really on the ground with the everyday student experience. Things look very different from a faculty perspective. But whenever intolerant rulers are in power, intolerant forces on the ground get a certain legitimacy to behave in reprehensible ways. We’ve seen this very brutally in India. But I think it’s quite different within the US university campus.

I was a student in New Jersey, just around 45 minutes from Manhattan, when 9/11 happened, and we were quite worried about racist backlash and violence—racist Americans can’t tell the difference between Arabs and South Asians. But in spite of what was the most horrifying attack on American soil, the university turned out to be a space of solidarity and security.

Personally, I did not experience anything unpleasant, though there was news of such incidents from other parts of the country. Almost a quarter-century later, after making much progress on racial plurality and transnational connections, we have drastically spiralled backwards, especially since 2016. We all know the reasons. But my sense is that the university is still a relatively safe space. It is under attack from forces outside, but if you get a chance to be part of this wonderful university system, I think you’re going to be fine socially. However, you can forget about the freedom to articulate political opinions, particularly if they counter the position of the current government. That will certainly get you into trouble. If you have the kind of socio-political conscience that doesn’t allow you to stay quiet, then the US—or probably any place in the world now—is a tough place for you. But if you are focused on your career and willing to lie under the radar as far as political debates are concerned, I think the university is still a safe space for you—but remember, only because of people who are still willing to fight back!

Saikat Majumdar is a former faculty member at Stanford and is now a professor at Ashoka University. He is the author of the book, College: Pathways of Possibility

This article appeared as The Great American Campus Dilemma in Outlook’s July 21 issue Degrees of Separation, a special education issue where our reporters and columnists delved into the the business of education and its stakeholders—students, universities and education consultants.

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