₹29,000 crore: CA breaks down how foreign education quietly drains Indian families

The cost of education is fast becoming one of the steepest drains on Indian family finances — at home and abroad.

In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Kaushik pointed out the spike in foreign education spending: “From ₹2,400 crore to ₹29,000 crore — The Great Education Money Drain.” In 2013-14, Indian families spent ₹2,429 crore to send their children overseas for higher studies. A decade later, in 2023-24, that number ballooned to ₹29,000 crore — a 12× jump.

But the real sting lies in the hidden charges. In 2024 alone, Indian families lost over ₹1,700 crore to banking fees and currency conversion markups — money shaved off before reaching the student. “That’s money which could have paid for months of rent, extra courses, or even a semester’s tuition — gone before it reached the student,” Kaushik noted.

He attributes the surge to three main drivers:

• A sharp rise in students heading abroad for degrees.
• Steep hikes in tuition and living costs overseas.
• High bank charges on cross-border transfers.

The pain isn’t limited to foreign degrees. Back home, quality private schooling often comes with steep fees for tuition, books, uniforms, transport, and activities — increasingly out of reach for the middle class. In higher education, professional courses in medicine, engineering, and management cost lakhs, forcing many into long-term loans. Even public colleges come with their own price tag in terms of housing and daily expenses.

This growing financial strain is deepening the divide — making education a privilege for those who can afford it, while leaving the rest scrambling to keep up.

Until smarter, low-cost payment systems replace the current setup, parents sending children abroad will continue paying a silent, avoidable tax.