American business schools rewrite syllabus as Indian enrolments fall

Joint degrees and credit-sharing emerge as response to visa curbs and a 45% drop

Mobility challenges for Indian students heading to the US are prompting American business schools to deepen collaborations with Indian universities through joint programmes and credit-sharing arrangements. 

“We are open to collaborating with different universities. We are looking for a two-plus-two-year collaboration or a four-plus-one-year collaboration,” Thomas Hill, assistant dean of graduate recruitment and admissions at Rutgers Business School, told Business Standard. 

Rutgers Business School, a public university, already runs a two-year double master’s programme with Xavier School of Management, Jamshedpur. Students spend one year each in India and the US, with credits shared between the institutions. “We are looking to replicate something like that,” Hill said. 

Michael Mazzeo, dean of the Olin Business School at Washington University in St Louis, said the school has been engaging with Indian universities to explore partnerships that would make Olin’s programmes available in India. 

The private university currently runs a joint executive MBA programme with the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay’s business school. 

The outreach comes amid a drop in Indian student enrolments in management programmes at American universities last year, following changes to US student visa policies.

 

According to the Graduate Management Admission Council’s latest white paper, Indian student enrolments at American institutions fell 45 per cent in August 2025.

 

The report said global management education trends are shifting, shaped by visa policies, currency pressures, and affordability concerns.

 

Hill said that although Rutgers saw a small dip in Indian student numbers last year, its overall international student population remained steady.

 

“I think the students who are talking to people they know in the US education system right now are getting a more positive outlook than what they are hearing back in India,” he said.

 

Mazzeo agreed, saying there has been considerable misinformation about day-to-day conditions in the US, which vary by region.

 

“St Louis, where Washington University is located, has been extremely normal. That’s different from other parts of the US, where there has been more disruption,” he said.

 

On steps to make Rutgers more attractive to Indian students, Hill said scholarship flexibility is limited for public universities. “We have increased the number of scholarships we are offering. We also think these collaborations with Indian universities, including credit sharing, will appeal to students,” he said.

 

Even as universities pursue collaborations in India, setting up a physical campus remains a distant prospect. “We are in the learning process right now,” Mazzeo said.

 

Hill said Rutgers is speaking with universities in India to gauge opinion before considering an India campus.

 

“So far, it seems like it could be a positive step towards strengthening Rutgers’ brand presence in India. It is definitely something we are discussing at Rutgers University and Rutgers Business School,” he said.

 

The move follows the University Grants Commission’s (UGC’s) 2023 notification allowing foreign higher education institutions to set up campuses in India under the National Education Policy 2020.

 

Under the regulations, foreign institutions must rank within the top 500 globally, either overall or in subject-specific rankings, to establish a campus in India.

 

They must also demonstrate expertise in their fields, subject to UGC approval. So far, 19 foreign higher education institutions have received letters of intent from the Union education ministry to open campuses in India.