Hyderabad: At a time when major destinations for Indian students — US, Canada, UK, and Australia — have tightened its visa regulations to curb the influx of students, non-traditional countries like Germany, France, and Ireland have simplified their visa processes.
According to the Indian Student Mobility Report 2024, approximately 10.3 lakh Indian students studying abroad, with 8.5 lakh in the US, UK, Australia, and Canada, spending nearly US $34 billion in the 2023-2024 academic year.
The rest are dispersed across countries like Germany, Kyrgyzstan, Ireland, Singapore, Russia, the Philippines, France, and New Zealand. Notably, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh contributed nearly US $5 billion to education in these primary countries, representing the largest cohort of Indian students abroad.
Taking advantage of these regulatory shifts, non-traditional destinations have adjusted their norms to attract students, resulting in about 1.8 lakh Indian students pursuing education in these countries, including nearly 23,000 from Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
“Indian students can benefit from a more straightforward visa process and have more time to secure employment after studies. In these 18 months, the candidates can work as much as they like and take up any kind of employment to support themselves,” said Vandana Mahajan, from Futures Abroad, a registered study abroad consultant.
However, educational consultants believe that despite the evolving regulations, many students will still prefer the traditional study destinations.
“Despite the changes, we believe that deserving students will continue to choose these traditional study destinations for their higher education. As many as 1.3 million students from India were outbound to pursue higher education in overseas destinations as of 2023 and the number is expected to reach a whopping 1.5 million by 2025, with a major chunk of it still choosing either of the 4 traditional study abroad destinations of US, Canada, UK and Australia.” said Saurabh Arora from the University Living.
According to the Indian Student Mobility Report 2024, approximately 10.3 lakh Indian students studying abroad, with 8.5 lakh in the US, UK, Australia, and Canada, spending nearly US $34 billion in the 2023-2024 academic year.
The rest are dispersed across countries like Germany, Kyrgyzstan, Ireland, Singapore, Russia, the Philippines, France, and New Zealand. Notably, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh contributed nearly US $5 billion to education in these primary countries, representing the largest cohort of Indian students abroad.
Taking advantage of these regulatory shifts, non-traditional destinations have adjusted their norms to attract students, resulting in about 1.8 lakh Indian students pursuing education in these countries, including nearly 23,000 from Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
“Indian students can benefit from a more straightforward visa process and have more time to secure employment after studies. In these 18 months, the candidates can work as much as they like and take up any kind of employment to support themselves,” said Vandana Mahajan, from Futures Abroad, a registered study abroad consultant.
However, educational consultants believe that despite the evolving regulations, many students will still prefer the traditional study destinations.
“Despite the changes, we believe that deserving students will continue to choose these traditional study destinations for their higher education. As many as 1.3 million students from India were outbound to pursue higher education in overseas destinations as of 2023 and the number is expected to reach a whopping 1.5 million by 2025, with a major chunk of it still choosing either of the 4 traditional study abroad destinations of US, Canada, UK and Australia.” said Saurabh Arora from the University Living.