Indian Students Driving The Post-Pandemic Recovery In The Overseas Education Sector
Nalini Agrawal
Co-founder & Director, KC Overseas Education | US Higher Education Expert
2022 is witnessing the period of ‘The Great Recovery’ for the higher education sector. Indian students are applying for overseas education in greater numbers than before with Canada and the UK emerging as favoured study destinations. Until now, China was leading the way in sending international students. But a recent forecast suggests that India will soon be the global leader in sending talent and the primary driver of the overseas education sector for the remainder of this decade.
A 2021 analysis from RedSeer Strategy Consultants tracks the rapid growth in Indian students outbound through 2019 when nearly 800,000 Indian students were studying abroad. It is projected to more than double by 2024 to reach up to 1.8Mn outbound students with total spending forecast at between US$75-US$85 billion. This includes the anticipated inflation in tuition fees and living expenses.
The number of students who have gone abroad in the first half of 2022 is already equal to that of 2020. Students from Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities are driving the growth, with better healthcare, better education outcomes and gaps in the Indian education system as determining factors.
In 2019, while 5,86,337 students went abroad, this number came down in 2020 due to the pandemic and subsequent travel restrictions. When the restrictions started easing up in 2021, the number of outbound students doubled while in 2022, it surpassed 245,601 in the first half itself.
Source: MEA, Govt of India
Newer study destinations such as Germany, Philippines, Italy, Turkey, Ireland, Russia and Singapore are emerging as growing study destinations for students. These are comparatively affordable and cater to the emerging young Indians aspiring to study abroad, especially from middle-class backgrounds and those from tier-2 and tier-3 cities.
Source: MEA, Government of India
The financial arm of KC Overseas, Elan Loans, disbursed loans worth 370Cr in 2021-22 to students going for overseas education. This is a steep rise from 2020-21 when loans worth 139Cr were disbursed. Additionally, in 2021-22, there has been an increase in students opting to avail education loans for higher education. In 2018-19, loans worth 48Cr were given to students which are meagre compared to the 2021-22 amount.
It is worth noting that between 2018-22, most students availed of loans for Canada (250+) and the UK (200+) followed by the USA (150+) and Australia (100+).
Most of them are attracted by global professional opportunities and world-class universities. Interestingly, Gen Z’s are motivated by ‘self-dependence’ and ‘living life on their own terms. Additionally, most countries offer the option to stay back for a stipulated period of time after the course is finished and look for a job opportunity. Students consider a number of factors to staying abroad including:
India has over the years contributed to building up a huge and impactful diaspora in foreign countries. This is also instrumental in attracting Indian students to these countries as they offer community support and guidance, mental security and a network to turn to when it comes to immigration and career opportunities. The Indian states that rank higher when it comes to outbound students are
Surprisingly, Canada has replaced the US as the study destination of choice for Indian students owing to relaxed immigration policies, high education standards and high standards of living. Indian students prefer the following countries to study at:
Source: MEA, Government of India
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CANADA
The High Commissioner of India recently noted that more than 230,000 Indian students who are enrolled in post-secondary institutions in Canada are contributing an estimated USD 4Billion or CAD 5.2 Bn through tuition fees and thereby making a positive contribution to the Canadian economy.
According to recent study permit data, more than a third of all international students in Canada have come from India and this number has been increasing steadily over time. The number of Indian students in Canada has grown by almost 350% between the 2015/16 and 2019/2020 academic years. One of the most popular ways for Indian students to apply for a Canadian study permit application is through the Student Direct Stream (SDS) Program. This is a helpful program as it was designed to make the process of applying for a Canadian study permit faster and more efficient for international students.
USA
In 2020, the US Department of State issued 111,000 F-1 student visas. In 2021, it issued 358,000 F-1 visas. Of these, 80,451 were issued to Indian students while 90,310 student visas were issued to Chinese students. Additionally, in 2021, US student visa approval rates rose to a nine-year high of 80.2%.
This year, between January to July, 77,799 Indian students received F-1 visas while only 46,145 Chinese students were approved for the F-1 student visas. In 2022, India is leading the surge for US student visas whereas China and other Southeast Asian countries have slowed down. India looks poised to overtake China as the leading exporter of international talent to the US very near in the future.
The US economy benefits greatly from international students. In 2019, before the pandemic, foreign citizens studying in America contributed $44 billion to the nation's economy. Out of this, $16 billion came from Chinese students and nearly $8 billion from Indians, the report said.
THE UK
India, along with China, continues to drive the surge in non-EU applications to the UK this year. There is an increase of 11% YoY in the number of Indian student applications with 8,660 applications received by the January deadline. At the same time, 28,930 Chinese applications were received with a 12% YoY growth. India has seen strong growth in recent years with nearly triple the number of visas issued in the past three years (as of Sep 2021).
Indian students constitute about 19% of all non-EU enrollments in the UK for 2020-21. There has been a notable increase of 67,660 students over the 2016-2021 period. India and China together account for just over half of all non-EU enrolments in the UK. While China still leads in the non-EU outbound students segment, growth in Chinese enrolments is showing signs of slowing down this year (with a 5% decline in commencements compared to 2019/20). In contrast, Indian numbers are more robust with a 27% year-over-year increase in first-year numbers.
Between July 2021-June 2022, the UK issued 486,868 sponsored study visas, out of which, 117,965 were granted to Indian students - an 89 per cent rise from the previous year, according to a report in the Indian Express. Compared to 2019, Indian students saw a 21 per cent increase in study visas from the UK, while China’s number dipped by 4 per cent.
AUSTRALIA
Australia had one of the longest border closures due to the pandemic. It fully opened its borders in December 2021 and since then, more students are considering Australia as their study destination. It is also perceived to be as safe and welcoming as the UK and Canada, two countries that are currently highly favoured by Indian students. Indian students make up the second largest student group in Australia and contribute more than $6 billion per annum to the economy. Australia and India’s universities are already collaborating closely, with 452 formal partnerships between them – four times as many as there were in 2007.
Between November 2021 to May 2022, about 40% of student visas were issued to those from the following four countries:
Indian applicants have returned to 64% of pre-pandemic volumes which is 57,635 year-to-date for 2021/22 as opposed to 89,868 in 2018/19.