Canada & Germany preferred countries after US for study

New Delhi: A survey by Shiksha.com gauged the insights about the behaviour and preferences among students looking to study abroad. The survey saw the participation of more than 1,257 students this year. Constituting the concept of brain drain, a large no of Indian youth are planning to migrate to foreign countries for better career prospects and better quality of education, revealed by the survey. Among these, 74 per cent aspirants are looking for post-graduate degree and 23 per cent of aspirants are seeking under-graduate degree.

One of the major takeaways from the survey is that Canada and Germany has been recorded as the second and third most preferred education destination, besides USA which still remains no.1 terminus. Apart from these UK, Australia, New Zealand and Singapore are also the choice favorites.

On being asked the most preferred industry they are looking to purse abroad, 39% students plan for engineering, 13% computers whereas 20% prefer studying MBA/BBA. The students also highlighted that 47% are planning to start their courses in 2015 followed by 38% in 2016 and 16% in 2017.

The survey also revealed when students were asked on the reasons while deciding the country, 78% have ranked job opportunity & work options; 73% looks at the Cost of Living and 61% stated Security & Climate stands third. On the other hand, Course Curriculum; Fees; and Scholarship & College reviews are the top factors influencing the students while deciding a college accounting for 77%, 76% and 71% respectively.

Commenting on the findings Maneesh Upadhyaya, Business Head, Shiksha.com said “We have seen an increase in the number of students, especially postgraduates are now applying to foreign countries like USA, Canada, Germany and UK among the others. The survey also revealed the two robust reasons of students choosing foreign universities. The first and foremost reason of studying abroad is the ever increasing competition in the education sector in India.

Students who are scoring as high as 90% are not getting seats in their college of choice in India. And because of this extreme competition the students are either compromising on the quality of education or shifting to foreign universities for better opportunities. And second, a degree from a top foreign university tends to be valued more in the Indian job market than a local degree.”

The survey also stated that earlier the Indian talent used to study abroad, preferred working there to settle permanently. However, the scenario has changed. Now after completing their education 46% students prefer work abroad for a while and return to India to work at a higher level whereas only 23% would stay in that country and get permanent resident status.

The students were also probed around rating the easiest to most difficult aspects of studying abroad. 54% students think finding the right college is the most difficult part whereas 49% aspirants state that information on securing a good scholarship / college stands second and Visa & college application process are at ease.