The 10th edition of the All India Survey on Higher Education has revealed some startling facts about international higher education in India, most prominently that 80% of international students in the country are enrolled in just 16 programs.
Other intriguing nuggets of information included within the survey include the fact in the 2019/20 academic year there were 49,348 international students enrolled in higher education in the country, a slight increase from the 47,427 enrolled last year. These students come from 168 different countries, but the highest share come from Nepal, Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Bhutan. With the number of male students from these countries being greater than the number of female students.
Slightly less than three out of four international students in India were undergraduates whilst 16.6% were postgraduates, and 9.1% were studying at other levels.
Karnataka, a southern state, had the highest number of international students, with 10,231, whilst Uttar Pradesh ranked second with 5,089. Delhi, India’s capital had only 2,345 by comparison.
These figures suggest that despite a push by the Indian government through initiatives such as Study in India, the number of international students entering the country has not significantly changed. Some critics claim this is because the government’s policies such as its flagship National Education Policy, offer little provision for increasing international student numbers.
However, all is not doom and gloom, despite the pandemic Kerala University recently announced that it had received a record 1,042 applications for students for the approaching academic year, with many of the applicants coming from Afghanistan and Iraq.
Furthermore, Study in India has been hosting online expos and marketing events to attract students, providing them with information and connections about and from the universities involved.
International Higher Education 