Indian students are a weak rupee's casualty

Twenty-five-year-old Pranav Dixit, who is pursuing a masters in magazine writing at the New York University (NYU), has switched from $6-sandwiches to $1-pizza slices. He survives on ramen ($1 for four packets) and has begun screening grocery price tags “like a hawk”.

He has also stopped going to the movies, has cancelled his Netflix subscription, got himself a savings card at the local supermarket and has started walking more, instead of using the $2.50-a-ride subway.

Mumbai-based Sachin Deshpande, who is all set to head to the University of Pennsylvania to pursue a masters in material science and engineering, is planning to buy a bicycle in an effort to curb expenses.

Such frugality is not part of a newfangled lifestyle that’s in vogue. It is just one of the many effects that the weakening rupee has had on students from India going abroad.

Dixit’s course at NYU is divided into trimesters, each costing $18,000. When he first left for the US in August 2012, the rupee’s value stood at 55. So, anyone who wanted to join the course in 2012 had to shell out roughly Rs30 lakh. Today, that amount stands at around Rs32.5 lakh. Add to this the expense of living in Manhattan, which is undoubtedly the most expensive city in the world.
Dixit got a substantial tuition waiver the first two trimesters, but he is not sure about a stroke of luck the third time around. “I am supposed to pay for my final trimester,” says Dixit. “The rupee falling to 60 will hit me the hardest this trimester.”

Dixit’s parents in Pune admit that the rupee’s free fall has affected them severely. “A couple of months ago, we had to shell out roughly Rs84,000 per month for $1,500 for Pranav’s expenses,” explains Dr Anand Dixit, who owns an export business. “But now, we have to shell out Rs91,000. We have to spend around Rs11,000-12,000 extra every month.”

The Dixits are already talking about a second loan and getting money from personal sources. “I dropped my plan of going to the US to meet Pranav this Diwali,” says Swati Dixit, a college professor. Plans to get a new laptop at the Dixit household, too, have been put on hold.

Homemaker Sandhya Rao from Pune, whose 22-year-old son, Rahul, is pursuing his masters in industrial engineering in New York, says her family, too, is “feeling the pinch”. “I never thought that the rupee will drop this low,” she says.

Rahul explains that he took an education loan of Rs20 lakh. “When I came to the US last year, the dollar-rupee exchange rate was 55. Right now, it’s around 59-60. When my tuition money is sent, there is a loss of Rs50,000 as compared with last year. And for monthly expenses, a loss of Rs4,000-5000.”

It’s some relief to the Dixits and the Raos that their children are midway through their respective courses. “The new students who are going this year will have it worse,” says Rao.

Dr Anand Dixit feels sorry for parents who hope to send their children to study abroad this year.

Media professional Priyanka Sharma, 24, who is based in Delhi, is set to leave for Cardiff University, UK, this year. Sharma is anxious as her student loan is currently being processed and she has no idea how far the rupee will plunge by the time it’s done.

“Every day, we are told the rupee cannot go any lower, but the next day, it does,” says Sharma, with a nervous laugh. Her one-year international journalism course’s fee is £12,000. Additionally, university accommodation will set her back by £6,000.

“When I was looking to apply last year in September (when the pound-rupee rate stood at 86), the amount that I calculated was around Rs16-17 lakh. But now, I will easily have to shell out Rs3-4 lakh more and now, even Rs20 lakh is just a rough estimate,” explains Sharma, adding that she is determined to find a job and curb expenses. “I am determined not to shop. And I am a shopaholic!” she laughs.

Deshpande is now wondering whether he should have applied for a scholarship at a lower-ranked university, instead of opting for the University of Pennsylvania, which didn’t offer a scholarship. His stay in Pennsylvania is now dearer by almost Rs2.5 lakh, as when he first applied for the course last year, the rupee value stood at around 56.

“For the first year, my course fee is $35,000. I am hoping to get a part-time job as soon as I land there,” says Deshpande. “I have already started enquiring about part-time jobs there. I also plan on impressing my professors, but the problem is, there will be thousands of students doing the same.”

Besides making elaborate plans to travel on his bicycle and not depending on public transport, he vows to eat out as rarely as possible. “I have already started learning how to cook dal, sabzis and rotis,” he laughs.