Study Abroad: Students from India have been looking at options to study abroad even during the coronavirus pandemic. In 2021 as well, there was a high intake in international universities of students from India. However, just like education has gone hybrid, it seems that international education has gone hybrid, too. According to the Study Abroad Survey by EdTech platform WorldGrad has found that Indian students are increasingly preferring hybrid mode of education. As per the survey, the past few months have seen about 17% increase in the students who are opting to study in a hybrid mode, going from 55% to between 72% in the last eight nine months.
Also read | Planning to study abroad? Check most preferred destinations, popular courses and programmes for Indian students
The survey has shown that the most recent global wave of Omicron variant of coronavirus has affected the study abroad plans for many students. The parameters that have been affected include travel, finances as well as mode of study.
It has also found that now, cost of education is playing an increasingly important role in the students’ choice of education. It said that ranking of universities as well as cost of education was considered to be the most important factor in choice of institutions and education by an equal number of students. There was also a huge overlap in these groups. Of all the students who took the survey, 72% chose to go for the hybrid mode – choosing to study online for some part of the course, and on campus for the remaining part in a bid to save costs.
A few months ago, this figure was at 55%, the platform said.
The pandemic has also played a major role in this aspect, as 66.8% of the students who took the survey accepted that their plans of overseas education were impacted by the coronavirus pandemic, as for many students, their parents were not comfortable with their children moving abroad in such a situation.
The third most important factor for students in the selection of their courses was the way the destination countries were handling the COVID-19 situations. As a result, while the US emerged to be the most preferred destination for Indian students (preferred by 41%), Canada was next (21%), followed by Australia and the UK (18% and 16% respectively). This seems to be positive news for Australia as well as the US which had not been preferred by international students amid the pandemic earlier.