Since many decades, students in India have been choosing the UK and the US as international destinations for pursuing higher education. However, along with these common overseas destinations, students can now think of considering Singapore, China, Hong Kong as study-abroad options. Of late, the universities and institutes in these mainland Asian countries are considered as preferred options amongst the Indian students. According to Pratibha Jain, the international education consultant, there are 4 reasons for this change in location preference.
One of the four major factors is the international standard of education. All the universities admitting international students are at par with those of US or UK. The second factor is lower cost of education. The tuition and living expenses in these countries are less than those of the western universities. The third factor is the close proximity of homeland. Students can afford to make multiple trips during vacation to their homeland because of less distance. The fourth one is chance of employment in these Asian countries is easier because of the unprecedented economical growth rate.
According to a current survey done by the Graduate Management Admission Council, it is seen that in the past few years, there has been a substantial increase in the percentage of students sending GMAT scores to these Asian countries. Some of the most preferred study-abroad Asian destinations are –
Singapore
The Singapore based universities known for their high quality educational standards are SMU (Singapore Management University), the National University of Singapore, and the Nanyang Technological University. All these universities have tie-ups with the leading institutes of the world, so the degrees offered by these universities have global recognition. The most popular courses taken by international students in these universities are medicine, science and technology, and arts & design.
China
A country with high economic growth, China is one of the most preferred overseas destinations among the Indians. According to Natasha Chopra, Director of The Chopras (study-abroad education consultancy), China has gained popularity as an international university because of the current rank of the universities among the top 100, as per a survey done by the QS World Ranking of Universities. In 2010, China has seen a soaring record of over 2,60,000 foreign students, as per the statistics given by the Education Ministry. More than 2,000 institutes and universities in the country are well known for their medicine and business programs. According to the Chinese Studies associate professor at JNU, Varaprasad Dolla, the excellent quality education and world class infrastructure make Chinese universities such preferred educational destinations. According to him, Peking University can be compared with that of Harvard, while the technology programs offered by Tsingua University are at par with MIT. Such excellent quality of education in China has been possible due to employment of competent researchers and professors from the UK and US.
Hong Kong
Since the last 2 decades, this country has earned a reputation for having some of the world class institutes. According to a recent survey conducted by the QS rankings, City University of Hong Kong and the Chinese University of Hong Kong achieved 15th and 5th ranks respectively. According to Varaprasad Dolla, as the education pattern in Hong Kong was planned during the colonial rule, the infrastructure and teaching standards are of international standards. The country is home to 8 universities, funded by the government, where English is used as the medium of instruction. Some of the popular courses amongst Indian students are art & design, bio-sciences, and engineering.
As per some of the present students from India, the main reasons for preference of an Asian university is higher job opportunity, part-time work opportunity for international students, and close proximity of homeland.
Based on an article published in the Hindustan Times