It is a known fact that China has burst onto the trading scene in America and that the trade relation between both the countries has developed substantially over the last couple of decades. But, when it comes to education, every 6th international student enrolled in the US higher education institutions is from India.
However, the dragon has gradually edged the elephant out when it comes to University Education in the US. According to the Institute of International Education report, China has pipped India in terms of number of Chinese students studying in the United States in the 2009-10 academic years.
Interestingly, this development comes in spite of the fact that the number of Indian students applying for US universities has improved substantially after a sharp decline in 2009. But, this does not come as a big surprise factoring in that – the UK had already upstaged America as the most preferred campus destination for the Indian students in first half of 2010.
Out of a total number of 690,923 international students that came to America last year – Chinese students accounted for almost 18% share at 128,000 students; marginally higher than the number of Indian students which stood at 104,897 last academic year.
The US higher education system – which continues to host more international students than any other country in the world – enrols almost 44% of the total students from China, India and South Korea.
Moreover, China’s growing presence overseas reflects its emerging middle class population with higher disposable income. Further, analysts point out that one-child government policy adopted in China could be playing a crucial role in enabling parents to focus their resources and college aspirations on a single child in the form of higher international studies abroad.
On the other hand, the United Kingdom has replaced the US as the favourite education destination for Indians this year; the UK issued 57,500 visas to Indian students, which are almost double the 32,000 visas issued by the US.
Even though US still constitutes the biggest pool of Indians enrolled, student visas issued for the UK-based colleges are gradually reporting a robust pick-up in demand on a sequential year on year basis.
Indian educational consultants suggest that this widening gap could be partially attributed to the availability of shorter courses in destinations outside America, soaring costs of tuition, cost of school application process and the fact that US was further from the home as compared to the UK.
In your view, which place is better destination for Indian students? The US or UK?
