A ₹50 lakh student loan, zero job offers, and a ₹20,000 job back home—this harsh reality of an Indian graduate’s U.S. education journey has reignited online debate over the crumbling promise of the “American dream.”
An Indian-origin techie based in San Francisco shared the story of her friend’s brother who, after graduating from a U.S. university with a $60,000 degree, returned to Mumbai with no job and a massive loan burden.
“This is the story universities don’t want you to hear,” she wrote in a now-viral post. “He just walked across a graduation stage in America… and boarded a flight back to Mumbai with: A $60K degree, A ₹50 lakh loan, Zero job offers.”
The young graduate is now working at an Indian startup for ₹20,000 a month, while his retired father covers a $900 EMI from his pension.
The techie urged students to approach U.S. education with eyes open, writing, “America still has incredible upsides… But the job market that once absorbed every STEM grad is drying up fast.”
The post resonated widely. One commenter wrote, “We need more honest stories, not just flashy LinkedIn success ones.” Others noted similar struggles in the UK, Australia, and Canada, where students end up in low-paying or odd jobs despite steep education costs.
One user shared, “Probably going to go down the same road myself soon… struggling to survive and stay mentally sane.”
Amid visa uncertainties and a tightening job market, many now question whether a foreign degree justifies the debt and emotional toll it often brings.