Get ready to pay lakhs more for studying in U.S. as rupee falls

  The sharp fall in the Indian rupee has been a major headline over the last fortnight for the extensive damage such depreciation can do to India's economy. The rupee weakness also hurts the government's image before key elections next year. It also hurts corporates, especially those who import raw materials and who have dollar-denominated loans. But it's not only the economy, which is at risk. The rupee weakness also threatens to upset those household budgets where some expenditure is dollar denominated. One such category of expense is tuition fee and living expenses for students studying overseas. Those planning to go to the U.S. will have to shell out at least Rs. 2-4 lakh more for their expenses because of the sharp fall in the rupee, industry body Assocham said. "An estimate shows that the fee of studying in the U.S. ranges from $ 20,000 to 30,000 for undergraduates and from $ 30,000-40,000 for MBAs. With the rupee weakening, students will now have to payRs. 2 lakhs to Rs. 4 lakhs more as overall expenses will rise," Assocham said. Students planning to go for courses that cost much more, say $100,000, will have to pay Rs. 55-58 lakhs against Rs. 45 lakh, when the rupee was at 53-54 levels against the greenback, Assocham estimated. The industry body estimates that if the U.S. dollar remains around Rs.60, the impact on fee and living expenses will be around 15 to 20 per cent. The Indian rupee hit a record low of 58.98 against the dollar on Tuesday, weakening 15 per cent since March 2012 and over 7 per cent since the beginning of May 2013. The currency is the worst performer among emerging markets after the South African rand since May. Besides high tuition fees and living expenses, students planning for next year's admission will also have to pay more for TOEFL, GRE and GMAT application forms. Admission forms of foreign universities, which range anywhere between $50 and $500 varying from institute to institute, has also become costly, Assocham said. Nearly 65,000 students went to the US in 2012-13, while 55,000 went to the UK in 2012, the industry body said. Of about 6-8 lakhs students that go abroad for studies from India every year, about 1 lakhs go to the US, followed by Britain, Australia and South East Asia, among other countries.   Source: NDTV