New Delhi: With Canada tightening study visa rules, and Australia and the UK considering similar curbs, a dip in Indian students is expected in these countries’ intake for spring 2025, said experts.
Those looking to study abroad are expected to head for alternative higher education destinations such as Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Ireland, New Zealand and Malta in greater numbers, according to higher education and study abroad consultants.
However, the increased intake in these countries is likely to fall short of com- pensating the anticipated decline in Canada, Australia and the UK, they said.
About 730,000 Indians are studying in Canada, Australia and the UK, according to Vaibhav Gupta, chief marketing officer of iSchoolConnect, an online study abroad platform. He expects approximately 125,000 fewer Indian students to travel to these three top countries. “This will either be filled by the US or European destinations such as France, Italy, Germany or East European countries,” said Gupta. Canada slashed study visa approvals by 35% for 2024 and announced an additional 10% cut in 2025.
“The drastic 35% cut by Canada could result in around 80,500 Indian students being denied study permits in 2024 alone, marking a steep drop in admissions,” said Adarsh Khandelwal, co-founder of Collegify. Next year, another 23,000 aspirants are likely to be affected, experts said.
The Canadian government also decided to link postgraduation work permits to the labour market, a positive step according to Piyush Kumar, regional director-South Asia and Mauritius at IDP Education. “Students will be more careful while selecting the course as a result," he said.
“In the last 48 hours, Leverage Edu has already seen a lot of existing Canada applications diverted… Tonality goes a long way,” said Akshay Chaturvedi, founder and chief executive of Leverage Edu.
The UK government recently announced an increase in minimum financial savings that international applicants must show to secure a student visa. This came on top of the stringent condition in place since January, under which overseas students can no longer bring dependents on their UK student visa, except for research postgraduate programmes. About 40% of Indian students are accompanied by dependents in the UK, experts said.
“A drop of 15-20% in postgraduate applications from India is forecast,” said Khandelwal of Collegify, adding that the increase in minimum monthly maintenance fund is expected to put additional financial strain on students from India. “This may lead to a 5-7% fall in applications, particularly from students with limited means,” he said. Australia recently put a cap on the number of new international students coming in at 270,000 a year from 2025, as well as introduced stricter visa requirements and eligibility criteria.
“The recent reduction in intake caps for study permits in key destinations like Canada, Australia and the UK is creating a more selective environment for Indian students,” said Saurabh Arora, founder and CEO of University Living. According to University Living, between 2021 and 2023, Spain saw a more than 28% increase in international student intake while Germany saw a nearly 13% increase and, outside of Europe, both New Zealand and Dubai saw about 10% increase. “Some Group of Eight institutions (in Australia) may experience an impact. We advise students to apply early and accept on time for their preferred universities,” said Kumar of IDP.
Meanwhile, many foreign institutions are unhappy with the limits imposed by their respective governments. For instance, Michael Wesley, deputy vice-chancellor for global, culture and engagement at the University of Melbourne told ET that Australia’s decision to cap international student enrolments was a terrible idea.
Source: https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/nri/study/no-open-book-fine-print-restrains-students-headed-overseas/articleshow/113558350.cms
