Upskilling cos tailor courses as H-1B fee hike upends plans

The steep increase in H-1B visa fee is expected to drive students and professionals to rethink their academic programmes, choice of universities and career paths, impacting how upskilling startups offer courses to align them with changing industry needs and visa requirements.

The change is likely to cause a significant drop in enrolments for non-STEM courses, while interest in STEM courses is likely to grow, said Praneet Singh, associate vice-president for study abroad at higher education and professional skilling platform Upgrad.

At present, about 80%…