City students wilt under meltdown heat in US

The money was for his post-graduate degree and half the total amount was met through an education loan.

Dighe, who has an Electrical 038; Telecommunication degree from Vishwakarma Institute of Technology, had then known he would earn it all in a matter of months, once he passes out.

A month to go for him to pass out of the university, the placement season in North Carolina is over, but he has not received any offer letter. There is a virtual freeze on recruitment, because of the economic meltdown.

It8217;s a similar story with almost his entire batch. Only a handful of companies visited the campus. Placement this year was negligible. If Dighe doesn8217;t get a job within months, he will have to return to India as his student visa will not be converted into a work permit.

Like Dighe, about 2,000 students from Pune had left for the US for higher studies in 2006.

8220;The placement scene is really bad here in the US this year. The reason I chose this university is that it is known for big companies making good offers to international students; if Cisco would take a batch of 70, another would grab 30. This year there were only 10 placements in my batch of 150 and all 10 were American students. They have said no to all international students on the premise there is huge unemployment among locals and they need to be given preference,8221; said 22-year-old Dighe, on phone from North Carolina.

Incidentally, 80 out of the 150 in his batch are Indians.

8220;Even in other universities the situation is grim. Of course some Indian students have landed jobs but most are those already having some work experience,8221; added Dighe.

What makes matters worse is that all the students need to get a job within three months of passing out if they want to stay on in the US. Given the situation, many students are opting not to graduate. 8220;They are taking on more subjects and somehow trying to stay on till May next year by which time they hope the situation will improve and companies here will lift the freeze on recruitments,8221; he said.

For his parents back home already grappling with a slowdown in their construction business, it8217;s a double blow.

Sandeep8217;s father Pramod Dighe recalls how his son had a clutch of good offers from companies like Honeywell and so on when he completed his engineering in 2006. But he had turned them all down to pursue his dream of higher education abroad.

Dilip Oak, who runs an academy in the city that prepares students for studies abroad, said that about 1000 students from his academy opt for studies abroad every year, 95 per cent for post-graduation.

8220;This June we sent 1,400,8221; he said adding that a total of 2,000 students from Pune leave every year for the US.

According to Professor TM Satyanarayan, director, Overseas Consultancy Services, about one lakh students across the country head for the US every year.

8220;Given an average expense of Rs 20 lakh per student, the amount spent on education abroad by the country comes to about 4 billion 8211; around 17 per cent of the total international money influx into the US for education,8221; he said.

Oak admitted that the students would find the going tough this year. 8220;But the good ones will get placed. Only it may take longer,8221; he said adding that it8217;s a cyclic phase that recurs every four years and he8217;s seen it twice in his career.

8220;In 2004 it was bad and it8217;s happening again in 2008,8221; he said. Little consolation though for Sandeep Dighe who has now reconciled to spending a large part of his time everyday applying to companies for jobs online. And he keeps waiting for those elusive replies.