Paying in dollars plus GST is a real barrier for students. The good news: every skill you need for UI animation can be learned on free plans.
Design and prototyping
Figma's free plan covers personal projects, and Figma offers an education plan for students and educators who verify their status. Smart Animate in prototypes is a good first step into UI motion.
Interactive motion
Rive has a free plan; its pricing page notes that free .riv exports play a Rive splash screen. ExodeUI has a free Community plan and is built in India; we make it. LottieFiles has a free plan and a large library of free animations you can study and reuse under the Lottie Simple License.
Video and 3D
Blender is free and open source, with Grease Pencil for 2D and full 3D. DaVinci Resolve has a free version for editing and compositing.
Code
If you study computer science or front-end, Motion (formerly Framer Motion) is MIT licensed and free, and GSAP is free to use. CSS animations and the Web Animations API cost nothing at all.
A learning path
Week 1-2: Figma prototypes and easing. Week 3-6: one interactive tool, building a toggle, loader and onboarding screen. Then add a little code to put your animation in a real web page. That portfolio is worth more than a certificate.