Number of study abroad applicants from India doubles in 2022

Many top study abroad education platforms in India have reported that the number of Indian students applying for the 2022 fall intake has doubled from last year.

Educational platforms including Leverage Edu have observed a drastic spike in the number of applications. Numbers show that 80% of Indian students are targeting popular study abroad destinations like the UK, the USA, Canada, and Australia.

“Students on our own platform between September 2020 and September 2021 have gone up by 21 times. Other than the increase in students’ interests this year, this is also as we have grown fast in the last 1-2 years,” said Akshay Chaturvedi, founder of Leverage Edu.

“We are seeing Indian students pursuing everything from hotel management, sports analytics to study of wines to photosynthesis in the US and Canada,” said Chaturvedi. Other sources suggest that STEM courses are also on the rise.

Students have cited attractive salary packages post-graduation, getting away from the fierce competition in their home country, and good healthcare facilities as some of their main reasons to study abroad.

A degree from a popular study destination elevates the resume of Indian students remarkably. The return on investment is high when the resume mentions degrees from countries like the US, the UK, or Australia. Hence, the number of Indian students willing to study abroad is increasing day by day.

Several factors drive this significant increase in study abroad applications. These include higher educational qualification, the expected outcome, higher standard of living, exposure to a new lifestyle, and a sense of freedom while learning to be responsible. 

According to a report, the majority of the student outflow is from states like Andhra Pradesh, Punjab and Maharashtra which are amongst the richest states in India with possibly high awareness of the educational benefits.

WHO’s approval of Covishield and Covaxin and pent-up demand due to the lockdown are also some reasons for this surge. Regardless, you can only expect the market of overseas education in India to grow in the future.

A report by the consulting firm RedSeer predicts that the number of Indian students opting for education abroad will grow to 1.8 million. It also says that the total overseas spending by Indian students will increase to a whopping USD 80 billion per year.