A recent post on LinkedIn has reignited debate over whether Indian MBA aspirants are now favouring domestic business schools over international ones, particularly those in the United States of America (USA). 

The post, shared by Aviral Bhatnagar, founder and managing partner of AJVC, a pre-seed fund investing in Indian startups, references a professor from the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Ahmedabad who claims that visa delays and immigration challenges have led to a noticeable uptick in students opting to stay in India.

As highlighted by NDTV, the post describes an “almost immediate” impact, with several students who had previously eyed the US for higher education now enrolling in Indian institutions instead. It suggests that India’s premier B-schools, including the IIMs, are benefiting from the global instability affecting student mobility.

However, the assertion has not gone unchallenged. Akshay Chaturvedi, founder and CEO of the talent mobility start-up Leverage, refuted the claim in his own post. 

Drawing from his conversations with hundreds of students and faculty across Indian and American universities — including New York University (NYU), University of Pennsylvania (UPenn), and IIM Ahmedabad — Chaturvedi asserted that most US-bound students are merely postponing their plans, not giving up on them. 

"It will take time, but US higher education will come back in a big way," he wrote.

As NDTV notes, the ongoing conversation has spurred a flood of responses. Some commenters argue this is a short-term shift driven by external pressures, not a lasting reversal of the so-called "brain drain." Others see it as a unique opportunity for Indian institutions to expand capacity and retain talent, if the current momentum can be sustained.