Indian Students Go Global: 1.3 Million Opt for International Study in 2022

The Education Ministry told the Rajya Sabha last month that over 1.3 million Indians went abroad for higher education during 2017-2022. Minister of State for Education Subhash Sarkar gave this information. In response to a question in the Upper House of Parliament, Mr Sarkar shared data on the number of students admitted to foreign universities or colleges obtained from the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).
"According to the MEA, there are approximately 1.3 million Indian students studying abroad in various courses for the year 2022. However, the Ministry of Education does not maintain any data on the expenditure incurred by Indian students pursuing higher studies abroad." Shri Sarkar said in a written reply.

Mr. Sarkar said that the US is the most preferred destination for Indian students. According to the data, 4,65,791 students went to the United States, followed by Canada (1,83,310 students), UAE (1,64,000), Australia (1,00,009), UK (55,465), Saudi Arabia (65,800), Qatar (46,000), Germany ( 34,864), Georgia (14,000), France (10,003), Bangladesh (9,308), Armenia (8,015) and China (6,436) among others.

Mr. Sarkar was replying to a question raised by DMK MP R Girirajan on the number of students pursuing higher education abroad and if the government has a plan to meet the needs of students to get quality education within the country.

He said, “As announced in last year's budget proposal, world-class foreign universities and institutions were allowed to offer courses in financial management, fintech, science, technology, engineering in GIFT City, Gujarat (Gujarat International Finance Tech-City). is and exempted from local regulations, except for regulations issued by the International Financial Services Centers Authority (IFSCA) to facilitate the availability of high-level human resources for financial services and technology."

The minister also mentioned that the University Grants Commission (UGC) has introduced the UGC (Academic Cooperation between Indian and Foreign Higher Educational Institutions) Regulations, 2022. This facilitates international collaboration with foreign higher education. Institutions (FHEIs), enriching educational opportunities for Indian students.