Planning for education from an international university has many perks including better job prospects. However, there is a need to plan properly, says ROHIT SETHI
Every year, lakhs of Indian students plan to go abroad to pursue higher education. For them, Canada, the US, the UK, Australia, New Zealand, France, Ireland, Scotland, and Germany are among the most preferred study abroad destinations. However, higher education in all these countries can be an expensive situation considering the high tuition fees and cost of living.
Moreover, the depreciation of the rupee as well as the new move by the Government to collect 5% tax on any overseas remittances of Rs 7 lakh and above in a financial year, are only increasing the burden on study abroad aspirants.
So, if the plan is still on, get ready to strategiss the entire process starting from making a budget to finding a part-time job to survive in the foreign land. Here is a quick guide that will let you deal with the entire mind-boggling process smoothly:
Choose the course strategically: It is important to skim through various programmes offered by renowned international universities and carefully understand their fee structure as there will be courses that may not fall in the budget of some students. In that case, one needs to consider the second-best option. Once the course has been decided, students can seek for education loans accordingly that comes with flexible EMIs and easy repayment options. Generally, shorter duration courses charge less fee whereas the fees for longer duration courses are on the higher side.
Choosing the destination of the selected course: Students are often more interested in observing the rank of the college rather instead of the kind of opportunities the city/country offers. Since a majority of Indian students are planning to go abroad to enhance their lifestyle with a dream job, the next step after choosing the course is to look at the cities that the universities/institutes are close to and the kind of industries located in that region. Planning in such a strategic way will not just ensure a better set of job opportunities after the course completion but will also let the students adapt to the culture of the region and deliver better job performance.
The writer is Director, ESS Global-Study Abroad Consultant