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What will it take for India to attract international students?

BySachin Jain
Oct 15, 2024 09:00 AM IST

This article is authored by Sachin Jain, country manager, ETS India & South Asia.

Last week, the United Kingdom (UK)’s University of Southampton become the first foreign university to set up its offshore campus in India under the new National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. While Australian universities, such as Deakin University and the University of Wollongong had earlier set up campuses in GIFT City in Ahmedabad, the University of Southampton will be the first foreign university to set up an India campus under University Grants Commission (UGC) norms.

Education
Education

This news provides further impetus to NEP’s Internationalisation agenda, which among other things promulgates India as a “study abroad destination”.

The Indian higher education system is home of almost 40 million students making it amongst the largest in the world. However, only 50,000 foreign students study in India accounting for only about 0.1% of the student population in India which is significantly low compared to five lakh foreign students studying in China and 10 lakh foreign students studying in the United States (US).

The current number of foreign students in India also represents an untapped potential of India to become a key destination country. The Study in India initiative by the Government of India has a target of 500,000 international students by 2047, which opens up a host of opportunities for the Indian education system.

More recently, the UGC released guidelines for admission and creation of supernumerary seats for international students in Undergraduate and Postgraduate Programmes in higher educational institutes (HEIs) in India. HEIs are allowed to create up to 25% supernumerary seats for international students, over and above of their total sanctioned enrolment for undergraduate and postgraduate programmes.

India has long been recognised for some of its prestigious institutions, such as the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs). Formed by the special act of Parliament, these centres of excellence have a proven record of churning out quality students. The government has also expanded these IITs and IIMs to 23 and 21 respectively, thereby significantly increasing the potential within these institutes to have not just Indian, but also foreign students.

The NEP 2020 has focused on a framework to target growth and development of India’s HEIs and further improve access, research, innovation, and internationalisation of campuses. The Government, through NEP-driven measures, has also attempted to mitigate recurring issues of faculty shortage, infrastructure deficit, and integration of digital technology, making these institutions more ready for foreign students.

Significantly, Indian institutions have also improved their global rankings. IIT Bombay showed a 31-rank improvement in the QS World University Rankings 2025, to be at 118. IIT Delhi is ranked 150 in the same ranking. Similarly, in the QS Rankings 2024: IIM Ahmedabad ranks 22 among business and management studies institutes globally, while IIM Bangalore is ranked 32. These facts are testimony to the development of Indian HEI’s their ability to become world-class institutions.

Indian universities also excel not just in traditional fields of study but are also making forays into emerging areas such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), data science, biotechnology, and electric vehicles. Just for context, IIT Madras is introducing a Bachelor of Technology or BTech in AI from this academic year. The institute also launched an MTech in ocean structures with a focus on the blue economy at its Zanzibar campus.

While we explore India’s potential to become a global education hub, cost and other factors seem to work in India’s favour. With global headwinds in traditional study abroad markets, due to rising cost of living, cap on student visas and lack of post study work opportunities, India solves many of these issues. Be it in terms of tuition fee, housing expenses, post-study work opportunities or even cultural experience, India has a competitive advantage over traditional destinations such as the US, UK, Australia or Canada.

With targeted outreach strategies, streamlined visa processing, and increased awareness about world-class education being offered in India, attracting international students seems like a viable proposition.

International institutions have a standard assessment criteria including language proficiency tests to assess students. While there’s growing acceptance of International standardised assessments in Indian institutions, a nationwide acceptance will spur more international students to apply to Indian institutions with ease.

As an example, presently there are currently 400,000 GRE test takers from 190 countries. If we focus on the GRE test takers from West Asia, North Africa, Central Asia, and Southeast Asia—countries that are closer to India and where there is a desire for and appreciation of Indian higher education—we can simply begin pitching Indian institutions and their programmes.

India is currently standing at a crucial juncture of its journey towards becoming one of the top study destinations for foreign students. The Study in India initiative will have to go in tandem with strategic changes in policies for global assessments, public-private partnerships, and focused promotional strategies in key regions of the world if this vision has to be a success.

This article is authored by Sachin Jain, country manager, ETS India & South Asia.

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