The surge of such European countries in luring Indian students away is a development that may have an effect for years to come given the rising expense of tuition in the US, the housing problem in the UK, and the backlog of visas in Canada.
Mumbai: Over the past few years, three Western European nations—Italy, France, and Germany—have made an attempt to draw many Indian students to their regions. India is one of the major marketplaces for international education, and this fact is not lost on the three countries, each of which has its own cultural and educational branches to serve students from across the world.
Italy uses the past as a recruiting tool for students from India
In addition to offering top-notch education in the sectors of business, finance, engineering, and technology, Italy is home to some of the world’s best universities for religious studies and history.
China, Asia, Indonesia, Iran, as well as Vietnam are just a few of the nations where Uni-Italia has a presence. Its goal is to advertise Italian higher education institutions and support students and researchers on their academic journeys to Italian universities.
Federica Maria Giove, Head of Uni-Italia India, reported that in 2022 the Italian Consulate General in Mumbai issued about 2000 study visas, with the city’s Uni-Italia centre assisting about 500 students in only that procedure.
“A lot of international students choose Italy as an excellent alternative because of the country’s many English-taught courses, scholarships, reasonable tuition costs, and general high standard of living. According to Federica, around 60% of overseas students receive scholarships and grants from Italy. She also emphasised the growing partnership between Uni-Italia and India’s leading universities, which takes the shape of meetings, master classes, seminars, and sessions.
In India, Uni-Italia Interactions between parents and students in Un-Italia, India, and the administrator Federica Maria Giove
Italy has maintained parity in pricing for both international and domestic students, despite the fact that certain public institutions in UK, US, and also Canada charge higher tuition costs for degrees pursued by foreign students.
“The tuition costs for degree programmes at state universities are depending on the household wealth of the university students, ranging from 0.0 € to 4.000 € (about 3.5 Lakhs INR), per year,” Federica continued.
French B-schools and organisations are enthusiastic about the expansion of Indian students.
Jean-Noel Barrot, France’s minister for digital enterprise and telecommunications, declared the country’s goal to host and educate 5 lakh students from around the world by 2025 during a visit to the Indraprastha Information Technology Institute (IIIT), Delhi.
“4,000,00,000 are already there, and the total of such Indian students would thereafter be, and according President Emmanuel Macron’s goal, 20,000,” Barot told reporters.
The efforts to increase that number are continuing, as French institutions had opened offices in India and intend to challenge the dominance of the US and, UK, and Canada in academia.
Indian students have been looking for alternate countries to study in during the past ten years due to reasons like Brexit and an unknown US immigration policy. According to Nilesh Gaikwad, Edhec Business School’s Country Manager for India, France has been at the frontline of bringing about constructive change in the academic world.
There is a real sense of enthusiasm at some of the top institutions in the nation because French business schools frequently rank among the best in the world.
“France has cheaper living expenses than the US or even the UK, for example. Additionally, the programming fee is less. Moreover, Indian students may apply for a variety of need-based scholarships and grants from the French Higher Education Ministry and Research, French businesses, and several French business schools. This includes, among others, the Legrand Mentoring Program, both the Charpak Master’s college scholarship, the Raman Charpak Scholarship (Ph.D.), as well as the Eiffel Scholarship Fund of Excellence, according to Patrice Houdayer, director of programmes, international relations, and student life at the SKEMA Business School.
In addition to the fact that the majority of business schools have several accreditations, France also permits Indian students to obtain a job seeker visas for a maximum of two years with a green card, which is typically good for one year and can be extended for another.
In order to promote French foreign higher education and welcome international researchers and scholars to the country, Campus France is a public organisation that Indian students can use if they find the process of understanding in France to be stressful.
“Our alumni group of people who have graduated Bachelor’s, Master’s, and doctorate programmes in France numbers 10,000 strong. For the majority of students, a master’s degree in administration has become one of the most sought-after programmes, according to Aayushi Nagpal, manager of Campus France at the French Embassy in India.
Germany’s growth as a study abroad destination is only expected to accelerate.
The strongest rival to Anglosphere nations in luring Indian students is arguably Germany, a more conventional and well-known alternative for graduates from the three countries. Indian students are the second-largest international student population attending German institutions, with 34,134 enrolling in 2022 from just 17,570 in 2017, a growth rate that is over five times the average for the world.
“A large majority of German universities have no or reduced tuition rates, welcome, and encourage foreign students also with administrative procedures and tasks. Students have two options after earning their degree: continue on to a larger degree or remain in Germany over 18 months to hunt for employment. They can work part-time jobs to supplement their income even while they are in school, according to Aditi Gosavi, Senior Advisor – Communications and PR, DAAD India (German Academic Exchange Service).
Throughout its regional office in New Delhi, the DAAD, which supports German academic cooperation globally, offers a number of scholarships for Masters programmes in particular subject areas, including public policy & good governance (PPGG), sustainable development and growth (EPOS), architecture, fine as well as performing arts, cinema, design, etc.
Rohit Iyer, a student of engineering in Hamburg studying embedded systems for the automation sector, believes that Germany is more affordable than other possibilities like the US and Canada. Iyer, who is currently seeking for housing in the nation, continued, “Being one of the main centres for automation, Germany presents a lot of prospects while still being delicate on the pockets as I am spending 5,000 Euros at one private university.
Europe gains at the expense of other nations.
The growth of such European countries in pulling Indian students away is a phenomenon that could have an influence for years to come given the rising cost of tuition in the US, housing shortage in the UK, and visa long waits in Canada.