Double Whammy: Appreciating dollar, US inflation bad news for Indian students

Chennai, Sep 11

The rupees fall against the US dollar is not a new phenomenon, but it always catches many tight-budgeted parents and their wards studying or aspiring to study there unawares.

This time around, the inflation in the US has also to be managed.

While many countries are now wooing Indian students to study in their universities, the choice of the nation and the university is decided taking into account various factors, and not just the currency exchange value, parents said.

The United States has issued 82,000 student visas to Indians this year.

The rupee has been depreciating against the dollar in recent times and touched an all-time low of 80.05 against a dollar, giving jitters to the parents whose wards are studying in the US as well as the aspirants for an US university degree.

The dollar appreciation makes it costly for the Indian parents as they have to shell out more rupees to buy a dollar and their wards have to cut down their spend.

"Rupee depreciation is not new. It happened when my daughter was studying in the US. We had to spend extra rupees to send her the dollars," Revathi Vasan told IANS.

"Our daughter studied in Australia. The Australian currency appreciated when she was there, but to a small extent. We were able to meet that," a private sector employee told IANS, preferring anonymity.

Many Indian students in the US have been taking up part time jobs to make the ends meet and reduce the burden on their Indian parents.

Now one can also say the job is a hedge against currency volatility and inflation.

On the other hand, Indian students who have completed their education in the US and have taken up a job there, are happy now as the dollar they send back home fetch more rupee.

It is not only the parents whose wards are studying in the US who are worried, but also parents of children who have taken up some employment and are waiting for a relevant visa to continue to stay there.

"My daughter has completed her education and has taken up on the job training. She has taken an education loan in dollars and is paying it back. The worry now is, if she doesn't get the required visa to stay put in the US, she has to come back. Then the loan repayment will be an issue," V. Rajagopalan, a private sector employee, told IANS.