Indians are found every corner of the world. Be it students or workers or high profile intellectuals. The student category of abroad goers is endlessly increasing. There is an annual growth of 10-12%. There are about 94,200 Indian students in USA alone in the Fall (August) 2008. This is 17% of the international students currently studying in USA. Chinese students are second to Indians at 13%. The United Kingdom comes second with 20,000 students.
There are several push factors behind the exodus of Indian students to foreign countries. The international value of foreign degree, presumed high quality of the degree, scholarships availability, possibility of good saving after expenditure and high employability after the degree makes Indian students to choose foreign countries for studies. Generally middle class families sent their children abroad for higher studies. This may be for post graduate degree course and above. Upper caste families sent their children abroad for schooling and undergraduate courses.
With the recession affecting the corporate sector and its spill over effect on the other social arenas, the number of abroad going students may come down in the near future. But as in other cases Indian mentality cannot be predicted that easily. It may work on the other way around. The Indian student community may take advantage the crisis and may go in huge numbers to break the historic records. If the tuition fees in colleges and universities are brought down due to the recession
There is also a threat that scholarships will be cut down and number of financial aids will be down to rock bottom. Due to the endowment fund cuts by the corporate sector to universities the latter may have to reduce the number of scholarships. According to The Times of India (14.1.2009 p.15) the Harvard endowment which was worth $36.9billion at the end of June 2008 is said to have come down by at lest 22% since then, and is expected to reduce further for the fiscal ending June. Yale univeristy’s endowment is said to have lost about a quarter of its value during the second half of 2008, from a high of $22.9 billion on June 30. Stanford university’s endowment which stood at $17billion in June –third only to Harvard’s and Yale’s – is also said to have reduced drastically.
Indian students have more reason to go abroad. The banks in India may not have strong reservation to lend loans for the abroad going students. One, there is strong push from the finance ministry to banks to provide education loans easily. Second, banks in the public sector are flooded with huge cash reserves. Three, there is no immediate threat to the employment opportunities for Indian students.
There are several push factors behind the exodus of Indian students to foreign countries. The international value of foreign degree, presumed high quality of the degree, scholarships availability, possibility of good saving after expenditure and high employability after the degree makes Indian students to choose foreign countries for studies. Generally middle class families sent their children abroad for higher studies. This may be for post graduate degree course and above. Upper caste families sent their children abroad for schooling and undergraduate courses.
With the recession affecting the corporate sector and its spill over effect on the other social arenas, the number of abroad going students may come down in the near future. But as in other cases Indian mentality cannot be predicted that easily. It may work on the other way around. The Indian student community may take advantage the crisis and may go in huge numbers to break the historic records. If the tuition fees in colleges and universities are brought down due to the recession
There is also a threat that scholarships will be cut down and number of financial aids will be down to rock bottom. Due to the endowment fund cuts by the corporate sector to universities the latter may have to reduce the number of scholarships. According to The Times of India (14.1.2009 p.15) the Harvard endowment which was worth $36.9billion at the end of June 2008 is said to have come down by at lest 22% since then, and is expected to reduce further for the fiscal ending June. Yale univeristy’s endowment is said to have lost about a quarter of its value during the second half of 2008, from a high of $22.9 billion on June 30. Stanford university’s endowment which stood at $17billion in June –third only to Harvard’s and Yale’s – is also said to have reduced drastically.
Indian students have more reason to go abroad. The banks in India may not have strong reservation to lend loans for the abroad going students. One, there is strong push from the finance ministry to banks to provide education loans easily. Second, banks in the public sector are flooded with huge cash reserves. Three, there is no immediate threat to the employment opportunities for Indian students.
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