Indian students continue to prefer US

8 p.c. growth seen in prospective Indian students seeking admissions, says CGS report

The growth of applicants among Indian students has been seen across the category of institutions.

Unmindful of the developments in the US, Indian students continue to prefer the US varsities for higher education and it reflects in the eight per cent growth seen in prospective Indian students seeking admissions.

According to the recent report of the Council of Graduate Schools (CGS), international students increased by 11 per cent compared to 2010. The survey report on admissions trends saw 23 per cent increase in prospective Chinese students followed by Middle East and Turkey. “While the growth in admissions is driven in large part by increases from China, it also reflects a broader trend as evidenced by strong numbers from the Middle East and India and a stabilization in the numbers from South Korea,” said Debra W. Stewart, CGS President in a statement posted on its website.

“For prospective graduate students from India, applications increased for the second year in a row and offers of admission increased for the first time since 2007. Interestingly, recent phases of the CGS International Graduate Admissions Survey have tracked the declines for prospective graduate students from India, but this year's survey results reveal gains for students from India,” the report said.

The growth of applicants among Indian students has been seen across the category of institutions and they continued to prefer big (in terms of the number of graduate degrees awarded to international students) institutions, the report suggests. Applications from prospective Indian graduate students increased 9 per cent at the institutions among the 10 largest, 9 per cent at the 50 largest, and 8 per cent at the 100 largest institutions.

The changes in offers of admission to prospective international students vary by field of study and institution type. Admissions increased in all broad fields. The largest increases were seen in business (16 per cent) and physical & earth sciences (15 per cent) while social sciences & psychology saw the smallest increase at three per cent. Offers of admission increased at nearly the same rate at private, not-for-profit institutions (12 per cent) and public institutions (11 per cent).

Final applications and initial offers of admission are based on the second phase of a three-part annual survey of international graduate student applications, admissions, and enrolment among CGS U.S. member institutions. The report is available on ‘www.cgsnet.org'.