Press Release

Shiksha- Study Abroad Release

March 16 2015

Canada & Germany one of the top preferred Countries after USA to Study Abroad, reveals a survey by Shiksha.com

Key Highlights:

  • Delhi NCR tops as an exporter of abroad aspirants from India
  • 45% of students aspiring to study abroad are from Tier2 cities
  • 72% respondents claim that they prepare by themselves rather than taking any coaching classes
  • 74% aspirants are looking to purse post-graduate degree whereas 23% aspirants wants to purse under-graduate degree outside India
  • 39% aspirants plan for engineering followed by 20% prefers MBA/BBA outside India
  • Among the respondents, 47% students are planning to start their course in 2015 whereas 38% look towards to 2016 and 16% in 2017
  • 46% aspirants prefer working abroad for a while and return to their native country
  • 54% students think finding the right college is the most difficult part
  • Job opportunities and work options, Cost of living and Part time jobs are the 3 most important criteria for deciding a country
  • Course Curriculum, Fees, Scholarships and College Reviews are the top influencers while decided a college

New Delhi, 16th March 2015: For past many years, a majority of Indian students are seen shifting to foreign institutes in order to procure their choice of education. In an endeavor to bring forth the outlook of the Students, Shiksha.com &ndash India&rsquos leading college ion website, has conducted a survey to gauge the insights about the behavior and preferences among students looking to study abroad. The survey saw the participation of more than 1257 students this year.  Constituting the concept of brain drain, a large no of Indian youth are planning to migrate to foreign countries for better career prospects and better quality of education, revealed by the survey. Among these, 74% aspirants are looking for post-graduate degree and 23% of aspirants are seeking under-graduate degree.
One of the major takeaways from the survey is that Canada and Germany has been recorded as the second and third most preferred education destination, besides USA which still remains no.1 terminus. Apart from these UK, Australia, New Zealand and Singapore are also the choice favorites.  
On being asked the most preferred industry they are looking to purse abroad, 39% students plan for engineering, 13% computers whereas 20% prefer studying MBA/BBA. The students also highlighted that 47% are planning to start their courses in 2015 followed by 38% in 2016 and 16% in 2017.

The survey also revealed when students were asked on the reasons while deciding the country, 78% have ranked job opportunity & work options 73% looks at the Cost of Living and 61% stated Security & Climate stands third. On the other hand, Course Curriculum Fees and Scholarship & College reviews are

the top factors influencing the students while deciding a college accounting for 77%, 76% and 71% respectively.
Commenting on the findings Maneesh Upadhyaya, Business Head, Shiksha.com said &ldquoWe have seen an increase in the number of students, especially postgraduates are now applying to foreign countries like USA, Canada, Germany and UK among the others. The survey also revealed the two robust reasons of students choosing foreign universities. The first and foremost reason of studying abroad is the ever increasing competition in the education sector in India. Students who are scoring as high as 90% are not getting seats in their college of choice in India. And because of this extreme competition the students are either compromising on the quality of education or shifting to foreign universities for better opportunities. And second, a degree from a top foreign university tends to be valued more in the Indian job market than a local degree.&rdquo
The survey also stated that earlier the Indian talent used to study abroad, preferred working there to settle permanently. However, the scenario has changed. Now after completing their education 46% students prefer work abroad for a while and return to India to work at a higher level whereas only 23% would stay in that country and get permanent resident status.
The students were also probed around rating the easiest to most difficult aspects of studying abroad. 54% students think finding the right college is the most difficult part whereas 49% aspirants state that information on securing a good scholarship / college stands second and Visa & college application process are at ease.
Suggesting on the findings, Mr Maneesh added, &ldquoThere is no short-term solution to this problem. The only remedy is to build up high-quality capacity in key disciplines at national institutions so that a greater number of Indian students can obtain quality education at home.&rdquo
Methodology- Internal survey was floated with the interested in MBA database of Shiksha.com registered in the last academic season. The survey was taken by 997 students.
Shiksha.com

Shiksha.com is an initiative of Info Edge (India) Ltd and has been set up as a one stop solution to all educational needs and queries. Infoedge has been immensely successful in creating powerful internet businesses around well known brands such as Naukri.com, 99acres.com, Jeevansathi.com along with Shiksha.com. Shiksha.com is a site that connects education seekers with education providers.  Since its inception in 2008, Shiksha.com has enabled students make well informed decisions by accessing detailed information on colleges, courses, scholarships and admission notifications as well as interact with other Shiksha.com users, experts and alumni groups. Shiksha.com has a team of counselors on staff and works with education agents across the globe to assist students find the right college and course. The website is currently a repository of information for over 13000 institutions, 40,000 plus courses and has a registered data base of more than 3 million students. It has introduced several student oriented

products like Common Application Form, Campus Connect, Career Central, College Predictors, Salary Data, College Reviews and Shiksha Café.