Germany Overtakes Canada as Top Study Abroad Destination among Indian Students

Germany has overtaken Canada as preferred study abroad destination of Indian students, according to reports. Canada is observing a decline in interest of Indian students, with only 9.3% of respondent students selecting Canada as their abroad study destination. The EU countries (48.8%) are experiencing more demand, followed by the USA (27.6%) and the UK (9.5%). The UK has witnessed a drop in demand by 11.34% since the previous survey.

About 10.6 million people from around the globe live in Germany, constituting 13% of the total population. EU countries like Germany (32.6%), Ireland (3.9%), France (3.3%), and other European countries (9%) have surpasses Canada in popularity among Indian students for higher education. According to insights from over 25,000 aspirants across tier-I/ metros (42.8%), tier-II and tier-III (57.2%) cities, the employability opportunities, global exposure, and affordability are the reasons to study abroad.

Most Sought-After Courses

A majority of the students are looking to pursue management degrees (55.6%), honing their leadership skills, targeting C-suite. Computer science (28.7%) is the second most sought after program with the rise in demand for information technology.

Students reported better jobs as their principal motivation to study abroad, followed by education quality and permanent residency. Nearly 45.7% of respondents hold the view that studying abroad enhances their employability, exposure to global job markets, and better opportunities for professional growth and development.

Surveyed Aspirant Details

A majority of the aspirants are coming from engineering backgrounds, followed by commerce students. About 44% aspirants were BTech graduates, followed by 19% BCom graduates, 15% BSc graduates and 10% BA graduates.

Around 44% of the respondents were fresh graduates, 23% had 0-2 years of work experience, 19% had 6 years of work experience and 14% had over 6 years of professional experience. A majority of the aspirants emerged from State Boards (56%), with 32% students from CBSE and 12% from ISC or IB.

Over 41.1% students reported to be emerging from middle-class families with an overseas education budget of 16-25 lakhs rupees. Around 40.4% students reported an educational budget of 26-50 lakhs rupees. Around 66.5% students were seeking educational loans to fund their abroad education. The remaining 33.5% of aspirants reported having access to self-funding for education.

Studying in Germany was a good option to enter the international labour market with affordable educational opportunities. The German universities offer various courses in English, breaking the language barrier for beginners. With EU countries rising as the preferred study abroad destination for Indian students, the demand for overseas education among Indian students is achieving wider acceptance.