What drives Indian students to go overseas ?

Studying overseas is a life-changing experience for students who undertake the challenge. They return with new perspectives and benefit from exposure to a new culture and education system. However, there are financial and social barriers to overseas study, and many either do not or cannot pursue it.

India is increasingly one of the most important international HE markets to watch globally. It is the second largest source of international students in the world after China and is growing at a faster rate. The two countries have the largest populations in the world and India is on the brink of taking the top spot. Coupled with a youth population far surpassing that of China, the pool of potential international students from India should be a key focus of those working in international student recruitment.

Universities overseas will however face challenges when trying to tap further into the pool of Indian students. Despite the growing importance to India’s international partners, internationalisation policy from the Indian MoE suggests not only that increasing outward mobility is far from being a priority, but also that India would much rather keep its students domestically.

Source: UNESCO UIS

Whether or not that is the intention of NEP policy, Indian enrolments overseas continue to rise. According to UNESCO, there was a total of 462,000 Indian students studying overseas in 2019. This figure has more than doubled since 2010, and has grown faster in recent years.

The main competitors in the India market

Source: IIE, HESA, Austrade, UNESCO

The US is the largest destination of Indian international students, according to IIE hosting 193,000 in 2019/20. However, the popularity of the US has slowed since 2016 and enrolments peaked in 2018/19 at 202,000 in 2018/19.

The slowdown in US enrolments since 2016 can be partially attributed to the “Trump effect”. The anti-immigrant rhetoric of US politics under President Trump detrimentally affected international enrolment to the US from around the world and Indian students were among those put off by the rhetoric.

Australia, Canada and the UK are the next most popular destinations among Indian students overseas. Before 2013 the UK held second place after the US, but a tightening of visa rules and the withdrawal of the 2-year post study visa in 2012 caused Indian enrolments in the UK to plummet. Since then both Australia and Canada have overtaken the UK. With the announcement of the Graduate Immigration Route (GIR) in 2019, enrolments once again began to rise, according to HESA increasing by 114% on 2018.

What do Indian students need from a study destination?

Opportunities to work in country after graduating are high on the priority list for Indian international students. Indian enrolments in the UK suffered after the withdrawal of post-study visas in 2012 while Canada enjoyed huge growth following the introduction of such options. The doubling of enrolments in the UK, reaching a level not seen since 2010, following the announcement of the GIR highlights just how influential post-study work opportunities are when choosing a study destination. The GIR allows students to stay in the UK for up to two years for work after graduating.

The UK has historically also had another major drawback for Indian students. Most UK postgraduate programmes last only one year and are too short to be recognised in India. This could however be set to change as the NEP suggests that one-year master’s degrees are likely to be introduced domestically. If this does happen, one-year master’s programmes overseas are much more likely to be recognised.

Public sentiment and hostility towards Indians also plays a role in where students choose to study, a fact that has hit both the US and Australia in the past. As well as the “Trump effect” mentioned earlier, Indian enrolments in Australia collapsed in 2009 following a string of attacks on Indians in Melbourne. Indian student numbers continued to fall for 3 years and only fully recovered in 2014.

Is India’s strategy inward facing?

As much as India has the potential to be one of the future drivers of international student recruitment, it appears that the Indian government would much rather keep them domestically. The internationalisation section of the NEP focusses on ‘internationalisation at home’, with almost all policy aimed either on internationalisation within domestic institutions or attracting students to India – not sending them overseas.

This could simply be because outward mobility is growing without policy guidance and is therefore not considered a priority, but the wording of the policy suggests India would much rather retain its domestic students and develop their international mindset from the safety of a university at home. Also supportingThe lack of government scholarships to study overseas aAlso supportsing the view that the government has limited interest in encouraging outbound mobility is the lack of government scholarships to study overseas.

The pandemic has shown that universities can indeed engage more internationally without physically sending students and faculty overseas. Because of this, there is a logic to the NEP’s domestically focussed internationalisation policy.

Focussing mainly inwards could however prove to be premature as India’s reputation has not yet developed abroad. It fails to acknowledge the role that international students play in effectively advertising their home countries. More students overseas result in more presence internationally which in turn over time could boost interest in India as a study destination.

Some countries, including the US and various countries in the EU, acknowledge the value of international experience that studying overseas brings and accordingly have developed initiatives to aid students wishing to go overseas. The NEP does not specify such provision.

Improving outward mobility would also potentially aid other NEP targets. The policy paints an image of multidisciplinary, well - rounded students in the near future. If there is one undebatable benefit of studying overseas it is the new perspective it offers students – perspective that brings them closer to the ideal characteristics the Indian MoE envisions.