Why Indian Students Favor Australia For Higher Education?

Education ranks third amongst Australian exports
The number of Indian students in Australia grew by 24.5% between 2017 and 2018
Engineering, Hospitality and Business and amongst the most popular courses of Indian students in Australia.

Australia has always been a popular destination for international students, especially the Indian ones. In the future, it may overtake the UK and the USA. For Indian students, Australia is welcoming, easy to live in and friendly. Read on to find out more about Indian students favor Australia for higher education.

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Australia As A Higher Study Destination

Home to 15 of the top 250 universities across the globe, Australia is one of the top destinations for higher education. In 2018, the number of international students in Australia was 876,399. This is almost 7 times the number of international students enrolled in Australian colleges in 1998.

Having international students is important for Australia as international education accounts for more than $32 billion. This puts the international education sector third in the ranking of Australian exports. The first two spots are taken by Coal and Iron Ore.

When talking about international education as a sector of the economy, it isn’t just fees for graduate and postgraduate courses that are taken into account.

It includes students enrolled in vocational courses, English language courses, non-award courses, students on government scholarships and students from New Zealand. This sector also encompasses education-related travel expenses, cost of living for students, etc.

Read: Indian Students Studying Abroad – The Latest Statistics

Indian Students in Australia

According to data released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the amount Indian spend on traveling overseas for education increased by 44% between 2014 and 2018.

In 2018, 752,725 Indians were enrolled in universities across 90 countries. The USA is the most popular destination for Indian students while Australia ranks third.

In 2018, more than 1 lakh Indian students enrolled in scholastic and vocational courses in Australian educational institutions. This accounted for 12.4% of the international student community in Australia. It also marked a year on year growth of 24.5%.

Why Indian Students Favor Australia

There are many reasons for the popularity of Australian universities among Indian students. One of them is the proximity of Australia to India in relation to the geographical distance between India and Europe, the UK and the USA.

Another reason is the Additional Temporary Graduate visa introduced by the Australian government. This visa gives international students who graduate from regional campuses, the right to stay in Australia for an additional year after their graduation and work or study further.

Currently, students enrolled in a Bachelors or Master’s degree program can get a 2-year post-study work visa.

One of the other reasons for the popularity of Australian educational institutions is the increasing difficulty of getting a student visa to the USA or UK. These countries have also made it very difficult for students to stay on in the country after their course is over even if they have a job in hand.

This makes it hard for students to pay back loans they may have had to take to pursue their educational goals. Australia is much more welcoming.

Courses Popular with Indian Students in Australia

Indian students find it easy to adjust to the Australian educational system because of the similarity between the two countries 10+2+3 structure. There are a number of courses offered for international students.

For Indian students, the most popular courses are in the Hospitality, Engineering, Information Technology, and Business streams. Vocational education is also slowly gaining popularity with Indian students in Australia.

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Countries That Indian Students Prefer