Studying abroad

Undergraduate courses: Younger Indians head abroad - The Economic Times: "Sahil, Drishti and Nakul represent a trend - Indians heading abroad to study are younger than ever before. Typically, they are 18 and fresh out of school. And Indian parents seem increasingly willing to shell out a few lakhs and more for the phoren tag.

Why is this happening? A major reason is the flexibility offered by foreign universities, especially those in the US. The young Indian headed abroad after class XII does not want an ordinary Indian BA degree or the stress of IIT or medical college entrance exams. Piyush Aggarwal, director of Abroad Education Consultants (ABE), says there are other reasons for this trend - it is hard to get admission to India's few good professional institutes; disposable incomes are rising and educational bank loans are easy to secure. Aggarwal says there has been a 15-20 % increase year on year in undergraduate student applications for foreign courses. Favoured destinations are the US, UK, Australia , Canada and now Singapore.
Shakuntala Rao, professor of communication and journalism at State University of New York, says "the most important factor is the emergence of a wealthy Indian middle class which can now afford to send their children abroad for education."

Sunil Pillai, Drishti's father, has dispatched his other daughter, Disha, to the US as well. He says it is expensive - Rs 8.5 lakh per quarter. "I can afford it and they get to do things that they want. Drishti can do medicine with astrophysics if she wants. Disha is doing risk management with finance," he says.

Dr Nandini Rastogi in Kanpur decided on Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore for her son Raghav, because it was relatively close to India. "The cost (around Rs 3.5 lakh a year) is almost half of what it would be in the US or UK. The university also offers student loans at 0% interest. Also, it's Asian culture and relatively safe." Raghav, who is pursuing a Bachelor's degree in computer science at NTU, says it was ideal for him. "To get admission into the top colleges in India is really difficult because the entrance exams are fiercely contested. "