“Hindu Studies: Beyond the Established American Universities”, India Fact, January 30, 2026
“Editor’s note: A version of this paper was presented at the Southeast Conference of the Association for Asian Studies (SEC/AAS) on January 24, 2026.
Why should Hindus establish their own institutions of higher education in the US, and what have they done so far to establish institutions that will offer students Hinduism from the perspective and experience of Hindus? Let us offer some context here: there are about 160-200 major Hindu temples in the US, and potentially up to 1,000 temples, small, medium, and large. There are about 3.3 to 3.6 million Hindus living in the US, and just over one percent of Americans identify themselves as Hindu. Since the 1965 Immigration Act, the number of Indians and Hindus has grown over the decades, with the numbers spiralling after the Y2K event in 2000[1]. On average, Hindus and Jews have the highest levels of educational achievement in the US, and Hindus are the highest-earning religious group, with more than 57 percent of them earning $100,000 or more, surpassing Jews, who have 54 percent among them with such an income level[2]. It is reported that since 2008, Indian-Americans have contributed three billion dollars to American universities (Indiaspora, 2025). If the fairly new Hindu/Indian community is this strong and vibrant, what have they done to shape the American education landscape?
For example, there are over 1,000 religiously affiliated colleges and universities in the US. Of them, 181-221 are Catholic, and the remaining are Protestant and Evangelical. The Council for Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU)[3] represents more than 150 universities in the US and Canada. A dozen accredited Jewish universities and colleges, with major Jewish institutions like Yeshiva University[4], Brandeis University[5], and the Jewish Theological Seminary of America[6] add to the higher education landscape. Muslim educational institutions include seminaries, madrasas, and higher education institutions in the US, along with 300 Islamic K-12 schools, and Muslim institutions include the American Islamic College, Cordoba University, Islamic American University, and Zaytuna College……”
Read full article at indiafacts.org.in
