25, Nov 2011

Although in India the rush to study abroad still continues, where our students are headed varies year after year for various reasons. Over the past several decades the United States has always held the number one position as a higher education destination. Countries such as China, India, and South Korea comprise 46 percent of the total international enrolments in US higher education.

However, there has been a remarkable reduction in the number of Indian students opting to study in the United States. According to The Hindu, the number of Indian students applying for higher education in US has dropped by a percent, compared to the previous year. The number fell for the first time in five years. Universities in the United States saw about 1,03,895 Indian students this year, while the number was 1,04,897 in 2009-2010. This sudden drop happened even as US colleges saw a 5 percent rise in the number of international applicants this year.

While Indian students form the second largest cohort in the United States, applicants from other countries such as China and South Korea also witnessed changes in the application pattern. While Indian students dropped by a percent, the number of Chinese applicants grew so rapidly that they are nearly 22% of the total international student population, as reported by The Economic Times. It is believed that an ability to fund their own studies has led to the increased flow of Chinese and Korean students to the US. Indian students enjoy a huge advantage over most other countries in terms of English language skills; however, they are not as strong when it comes to financing their education abroad. So they are constantly looking for scholarships and other means of paying the tuition fees. This leads them to look at destinations other than the United States.