57% of Indian Middle Class Aspires to Study Abroad: Survey

Over 57 per cent of Indian middle-class families with a household income of Rs 3-10 lakhs are inclined to spend on overseas education, revealsLeap-IpsosStrategy3 Study Abroad Outlook Report. The report claims that foreign education is becoming popular with the largest segment of the Indian population – the middle class.

Superior education and lifestyle, global career opportunities, and better salaries emerged as the top three reasons for a majority of Indian middle-class families to consider foreign education which was for the longest of time limited to just the richer Indians.

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A majority — 83 per cent — of students believe an overseas degree will enhance their prospects of securing better job opportunities and provide an edge over peer competition and talent pool.

Aspirants are showing more trust in taking education loans. The study shared that in terms of funding education, over 62% of Indians prefer education loans, closely followed by scholarships at 53%. The significant increase in preference for education loans is expected to boost the study abroad loan market in the coming years.

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With studying from home becoming the only option available during Covid, students had chosen to pick up online/ hybrid courses in the last two years. However, now 80 per cent of study abroad aspirants have said that they prefer studying from campus/face-to-face learning as it provides them an opportunity to strengthen their peer networks and adds face value to their interactions.

Vaibhav Singh, Co-Founder of Leap shared, “Fuelled by the student community’s growing aspirations, the Indian overseas education market is expected to grow multi-fold and will see over 2 million Indian students fly out by 2025 spending over $100 billion on their international education.”

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