In the wake of the surprising US election, there have been massive speculative reactions, both within the United States and abroad. For Indian students looking to study in the US, there might be a lot of questions, and a lot of concerns about policy changes to the visa process and cultural responses to the new regime. Trump’s platform, makeshift as it was, rested on fear-baiting techniques and xenophobic language, and now concerns about the cultural implications this could have in the United States seem bigger than ever before. While no one can say for certain what will happen in the next four years, here are a few things that should put your mind at rest if you are concerned about studying abroad.
In all likelihood, not at all. It’s not something Trump’s campaign dealt with over the course of the election, nor is it a hot-button issue for Republicans or Democrats. Most of the proposals mentioned during his campaign are illegal, and many of them would be difficult or impossible to pass even now, given his sure-to-be contentious relationship with senate and congress. Mr. Trump’s antagonism of the majority leaders, even within his own party, will probably result in four years of inefficiency, something Indian applications should be more than familiar with, but very little change. But beyond the fact that Mr. Trump’s interest in student visas is negligible, if there was a proposed plan in place to change visa policies, which there isn’t, it would take years to pass.
Again, no one can guarantee zero incidents, but probably yes. Ms. Clinton won the popular vote, which means that more than half of the country voted for her and her social policies of inclusion and cultural diversity. College students, intellectuals, and urban centers all overwhelmingly voted for and campaigned for Ms. Clinton. Little of Mr. Trump’s political rhetoric seems to be specifically targeted at Indians. Frankly, if you consider the UK to be a safe place in a post-Brexit reality, you can consider the US in the same terms.
For Indian students, and international students in general, they apply to the college for aid, not the government, so if something does change in terms of government-provided student-aid, that will not affect Indian students.
There is a large amount of speculation regarding the negative fallout of a Trump presidency, but students in top liberal arts colleges and universities are going to remain unaffected. Those who will be affected are students attending poorly ranked institutions in the US, as the employment prospects for international students at these institutions take a hit. A high-quality education from a top university remains valuable to employers and graduate schools alike. At Collegify, we conducted a survey across all our locations in the aftermath of the election: across a sample of over 400 students, not one indicated that they would like to change their decision to study in the US.