The whole concept of education has changed.  Students, now, are in the search for new courses which make them employable and suites their taste. Now attaining education is not just sticking to one’s own neighborhood.   Many aspire and if possible globe trot for education. The whole concept of education has changed.  Students, now, are in the search for new courses which make them employable and suites their taste.     Such opportunities benefit students with a chance to experience foreign life.  It enhances them  to be independent with professionalism.  This is really benefitting and rewarding and the students when they return to their mother countries,  they turn to be more fruitful.

The latest data shows that students head to roughly 16 prominent host countries – US, UK, Canada, Germany, India, Australia, France, Japan, New Zealand, China, Mexico, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Russia and Finland.  This estimate is as per the data provided by the International Institute of Education (IIE) via Project Atlas.

Among these countries in the top is the U.S. 

which hosts around 1.1 million students and then comes U.K. with 501, 045 students. China comes next in the line with 442, 773 students. The rest of the data follows :

Australia -327, 606, France- 323,933, Canada – 312, 100, Russia – 296,178, Germany – 251,542, Japan -171, 122, Spain – 94, 962.

Canada and Australia made its mark by its strong volume and growth and this makes them very popular locations for international students mainly for its strong academic performances and rankings. It is known for its quality and reputation,  good amenities for students,  welcoming nature and job opportunities.  These countries too have registered their growth in attracting international students – Mexico – 58.9%, New Zealand -34.4%, Spain - 24.9%, Canada - 18.3%, Japan -12.5% and Australia -12.1%.

Indian students comes in top 5 when it comes to globetrotting for education.  In U.S. – 186.264, Canada – 76,530, Australia – 44, 775, New Zealand – 19,585, China -18, 626, UK - 18, 015, Germany – 13,537 and Sweden

 – 1316.  Indian students now prefer China for many reasons and it is investing very much in improving its  educational quality, training and infrastructure. 

It should be noted that India too has made its mark by attracting international students. Around 45, 424 thousand international students are there.  Students come from neighboring countries like Nepal, Afghanistan, Bhutan etc.  There are quite a number of students from Africa and Middle East.

Latin American countries try their level best to send their students abroad.  Special scholarships are formulated and the example is Brazil. It provided 75,000 scholarships for its students to pursue studies abroad in science and technology in 2014.

A new data from Japan Association of Overseas Studies reveal that more than 200, 000 students are studying abroad in 2016. Among the favorite destinations of Japanese students, US ranks first.

International students prefer U.K mainly for business and administrative studies, and the second preference is for Engineering and Technology courses and in the third place comes courses in social studies.  In the U.S, the first preference was for Business and Management, the next is Engineering and in the third position is Mathematics & Computer Science courses.

Now let us check the top 10 universities of the world – 1) Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) 2) Stanford University 3) Harvard University 4) California Institute of Technology 5) University of Cambridge 6) University of Oxford 7) University College of London  8) Imperial College of London 9) University of Chicago 10) ETH Zurich (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology).

Banks provide loans and many student exchange programs  which turn as a blessing for such aspiring students.  Moreover it enables in facilitating quality and cost effective education which many students lack in their mother country.  This is how students from Africa come to India,  students from India goes to U.S., Russia, China etc. to study medicine and to U.S to study latest Information technology packages etc.

The main attraction of such programs is the low cost or they get an opportunity to study at a fraction of cost.  Normally to study abroad,   it may cost thousands of dollars.  And by such exchange programs,  they are able to visit, live and study in a foreign destination at the fraction of cost than actually required. Students are also able to come across an alternative way of learning or teaching which may be quite different from their mother country.  It enhances their learning experience and also helps to share it with their peers in their country.

Such exchange programs helps in developing the personality of an individual. They are far away from home and out of the care and protection of parents.  They learn to be independent and self-reliant and it boosts their confidence and develops a different approach to life. The self-esteem is bolstered and they show a different understanding to issues that they face daily. They understand different cultures by mixing with fellow students who may be from different countries and thereby they develop a new world view. Their concept will change and  who studies business there develops a new global approach.  They brace up to work in a global economy by understanding international market forces and are equipped to solve new global economic challenges.                                Bonnie Basil