India is Inviting More Foreign Students

India, a country going under Broadway phase, has announced one more milestone in the path of educational development. The program is called “Study in India,” which is going to be implemented under the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD).

The focus of this Programme is to invite more foreign students to India. Foreign students can get the news and information about admissions in India through a centralized web-portal http://studyinindia.gov.in which is in operation under the MHRD.

India is targeting students from countries across South-east Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. But the catchment countries for India are reporting strong growth in sending students to the US. Meanwhile, there is one confusion too for the foreign students.

The Trump administration has been making restrictive immigration noises, and the students are in a turmoil that though pursuing expensive American Education, will they be able to get a good return on their investments? Thus here in this state, India can reap benefits with a proper strategy.

The Study in India program is expecting the participation of the selected reputed Indian institutes/universities that would offer seats for the International students at affordable fee structure and fee waiver to meritorious foreign students ranging from 100% to 25% on the following criteria:

• 100% concession on tuition fees, which is for the top 25% of students.
• 50% concession on tuition fees, which is for the next 25% of students.
• 25% concession on tuition fees, which is for the upcoming 25% of students after the above.
• No waiver of tuition fee for the remaining 25% of students.

 This would attract foreign students as the course fee is extremely small in India in comparison to the US or UK. The Programme also aims to set up call centers for support and allocate seats to the meritorious students. Top 100 partner institutions will be selected on the basis of the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) grading and National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) ranking. Branding activities will be performed in the target countries to promote the Programme.

This Programme is going to be beneficial for India in the following ways:

• The overall quality of Education will be improved as there will be a healthy competition among the institutions/universities in delivering the best education, which is going to be cost-effective too.
• India’s market share in global education exports, which is less than 1% at present, is expected to rise to 2%.
• The export-import imbalance between international students will be reduced as the import is relatively less in comparison to the export.
• The soft power of India will be improved, and it can be used as a tool in diplomacy with a focus on neighboring countries.
• India will be an educational destination as the global ranking will be increased. Students will be proud of having been studied in India.

India can be a potential educational hub for foreign students. If people from all over the world can visit India for medical reasons which have become a good destination for foreign patients and medical tourists, the same can go with Education. The top universities and institutions should be able to attract and invite foreign students to India.