Canada and Australia continue to be popular choices for Indian students seeking higher education abroad, with both countries attracting a record number of enrollments last year. According to data provided by the Education Ministry, around 1.3 million Indian students pursued higher education in foreign institutions in 2022. Canada emerged as the top destination, attracting 1.83 lakh enrollments, closely followed by Australia with 1 lakh enrollments.
The figures were disclosed by Subhas Sarkar, the Minister of State for Education, in response to a query in the Rajya Sabha about the number of students studying abroad and the government’s efforts to support quality education within India. While the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) provided the data on the number of enrollments, the Ministry of Education does not maintain records on the expenses incurred by Indian students studying abroad.
Apart from Canada and Australia, other popular destinations for Indian students seeking higher education were Germany, Georgia, France, Bangladesh, Armenia, China, and Iran, among others.
In a move to provide access to high-quality human resources for financial services and technology, the government allowed world-class foreign universities and institutions to operate in Gujarat’s GIFT City. These institutions offer specialized courses in financial management, fintech, science, technology, engineering, and mathematics without domestic regulations, except those imposed by the International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA).
To further facilitate international academic collaborations, the University Grants Commission (UGC), the higher education regulator in India, introduced the UGCs Academic Collaboration between Indian and Foreign Higher Education Institutions. This initiative aims to promote Twinning Programmes, Joint Degrees, and Dual Degrees with foreign higher educational institutions (FHEIs).
Since 2017, the government has been implementing the World Class Institutions Scheme to provide higher education institutions in India access to affordable world-class academic and research facilities. As part of this scheme, 10 institutions each from the public and private sectors have been designated as ‘Institution of Eminence’ (IoE). Currently, 12 institutions, including eight public and four private ones, hold the IoE status. The government’s objective is to retain talented students graduating from premier educational institutions within the country and also provide attractive educational and research opportunities to non-resident Indians within India.
To foster the research ecosystem, research parks have been approved for various Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and the Indian Institute of Science (IISc). These initiatives aim to strengthen India’s position as a global hub for education and research and encourage students to explore quality educational opportunities both at home and abroad.
