Nearly 81 per cent of the students still aspire to study abroad while 19 per cent of students have delayed or dropped the idea of overseas education, according to a study conducted by The WorldGrad, a tech-enabled consultancy platform. Canada came out as the top choice for students with 50 per cent of the respondents wanting to study in Canada because of easy immigration opportunities. Followed by the US (40 per cent), the UK, and Australia. Australia has become the least preferred destination, as the intakes from India have gone from 80,000 in 2019 to less than 40,000 in 2021, says the study.
The consultancy firm surveyed over 20,000 undergrad aspirants to gather insights on their plans of studying abroad, post-Covid. The survey also collated insights on their obstacles and roadblocks hardships.
Deferred plans
Nearly 95 per cent of the students believe that post-vaccination they can travel overseas, and 75 per cent of those who have delayed the plans stated financial constraints as a big factor.A vast majority (76 per cent) are either still researching their options or in the process of application. This is again due to the severe delays in board results due to which students have not been able to start the fall term with overseas universities and will likely go early next year.
Following the results of the survey, Co-Founder Abhinav Mital said, “It was quite prominent that Covid-19 pandemic might not be in the favour of the students who wish for overseas education but I am really inspired by the statistics that we got through the survey which clearly shows that a lot of students haven’t let the crises affect their dreams and still wish to continue with their plans.’’