As govt woos foreign univs, Indians studying abroad doubles in 7 years

The number of foreign students coming to India increased only 16.7 per cent since 2014-15.

education — Europe, North America and Australia have been the preferred destination, but data shows that migration to the Middle East has also increased in the last few years

1 min read Last Updated : Apr 29 2022 | 2:40 AM IST

The University Grants Commission, earlier this month, set up a five-member committee to study how to get foreign universities to India. The committee will submit its report by the end of the month, potentially allowing foreign institutes to set up campuses in India.

The government’s New Education Policy envisaged getting reputed foreign institutes. In 2010, after the union cabinet cleared the Foreign Educational Institutes Bill, attempts were made to get foreign universities to India.

As the government lost that opportunity, a Business Standard analysis shows that the number of Indian students studying abroad has almost doubled over the years. In 2015-16, as per government data, 574,871 Indians were studying abroad. By March 2022, the number had increased to 1.32 million.

Four countries—the United States, Canada, United Arab Emirates, and Australia—accounted for two-thirds of Indian students studying in foreign countries.

The government data is only representative, as it does not maintain a database of students in all countries.

However, directionally the trend shows more Indian students opting for foreign degrees.

Europe, North America and Australia have been the preferred destination, but data shows that migration to the Middle East has also increased in the last few years. One in five students opting to study in foreign institutes went to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, as per data available by the government.

Figures released by the All India Survey of Higher Education (AISHE) show that the number of foreign students opting to complete their studies in India grew at a slower pace than the number of students from India opting for foreign education.

Analysis shows that between 2014-15 and 2019-20, the number of international students in Indian colleges grew only 16.7 per cent, from 42,293 to 49,348. Out of the 49,348 students in India, over 13,000 or a fourth were from Nepal.