In March of 2023, Dean of Institutional Research Planning Ingrid Skadberg represented QCC on a Fulbright scholarship that took her halfway across the world to India. The Fulbright Scholarship program, started in 1945 to establish goodwill through the exchange of students, is the largest educational scholarship program in the world. Additionally, India has one of the largest programs worldwide with approximately 20,000 fellows.
Skadberg joined 13 other higher education professionals to tour 12 institutions, covering three cities including New Delhi.
"The hospitality was awesome. Every place we went the welcome was so warm. You didn't get very far before you were given a chai and some type of sweet or sandwich," she said.
Skadberg commented that it was a good timing for the program because in 2020, India released their National Education Policy in an effort to bolster their education system. India has more higher education institutions that any other country, but the quality is varied so there is a movement to consolidate smaller institutions and expand capacity overall.
The amount of people enrolling in college in India has been steadily increasing but the government wants to see higher growth. Skadberg shared that about 26% of Indian college-aged students are enrolled in higher education programs, compared with 88% in the United States and 59% in China.
While India's enrollment is on the rise, enrollment in the U.S. has been going down and Skadberg pointed out that this could be an opportunity for mutually-beneficial student exchange programs between the two countries. Indian students going abroad in Canada and the U.K. have increased, while in this U.S. the numbers have decreased.
It was noted that there could be obstacles for collaborations between the U.S. and India, such as cost of living and access to housing, but this could be offset by cheaper programs costs. It was also pointed out that transfer programs from community colleges could be emphasized to increase students coming in from India.