Indian students think foreign degrees aren’t worth the money – survey

While the majority of international students worldwide report they are satisfied or very satisfied with their foreign studies, Indian students were found to be the least impressed with the return of investment from their degrees obtained abroad, a new survey revealed.

Only around half of Indian students who studied abroad say their international education brought positive returns, according to the International Student and Alumni Satisfaction Survey conducted by the International Alumni Job Network (IAJN) and consumer insight group Nielsen, as reported by The PIE News.

Only 42 percent of international students from India were satisfied with their UK education. Whereas for those who studied in Australia and US, 43 percent and 55 percent reported they were satisfied respectively.

5,200 responses from students in China, India, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam and Hong Kong were obtained for this survey – 72 percent were happy with the return on investment on their international education.

However, Hong Kong students in Australia and Singaporean and Malaysian students in the UK reported higher satisfaction than the global average, at 77 percent and 78 percent satisfaction rates respectively.

Students with international degrees preferred for jobs in India https://t.co/t991YzK3q8 pic.twitter.com/CIDABZvMKj

— Study International (@Study_INTNL) September 1, 2017

Possible reasons for the low levels of satisfaction could be due to the mismatch of expectations students have during recruitment and when they actually arrive at their universities. Lack of support to guide students from university to the workplace is another likely cause of dissatisfaction, according to Shane Dillon, founder of IAJN.

“We hear on a regular basis from international students who feel abandoned by their university after graduation; who return to home countries without a professional network or any gateways or support to employment like local students receive,” Dillon told The PIE News.

However, a study released earlier this month found international graduates are still preferred for jobs in India as local graduates lack “exposure and right counselling at the right age”.

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