The United States of America continues to be the preferred destination for students looking for universities abroad to pursue higher education.
A good number of parents, eager to explore the possibility of sending their wards to overseas universities and colleges for higher education, formed the crowd at The Hindu EducationPlus’s International Education Fair, held in Vijayawada on Saturday.
Students, many of them with their parents in tow, lapped up information at the stalls put up by representatives of educational consultants and allied services.
A large number of them made enquiries about American universities that specialise in courses such as computer science, data science, cybersecurity and other related areas, despite their high fee structure.
“My son, who is currently pursuing a computer science engineering course, has scored over 85% in his 7th semester. He plans to go to the U.S. and pursue an MS in cybersecurity or data science. I want him to choose a university where he can develop his talent,” said Ashok Kumar S., a resident of Machilipatnam, where he owns a hotel. When asked why the U.S. in specific, he points to the fact that the country has top universities and that his son could make good money there.
P. Annapurna is eager to see her daughter migrate to the U.S. to pursue MD in data science, as she sees the country with high employment rate.
“But the high fees is a dampner,” she says, suggesting further relaxation in State-sponsored schemes such as Jagananna Videshi Vidya Deevena.
“My daughter completed B.Tech in EEE stream and she wants to do her MS in data science in the US. We do not fit into the criteria of the Videshi Vidya scheme as my family income is between 9 and 10 LPA, even though we desperately need financial assistance for my daughter’s education,” she said.
M. Siva Sastry accompanied his son Ashok to the fair and expressed happiness over the initiative.
“Such events bring several educational consultants and allied services under one roof and it becomes easy for students and their parents to gather relevant information,” he said.
Dr. Sastry was here to look for a job-oriented course for his son who is currently pursuing CSE course in NIT, Agartala.
With most QS-ranked universities located in the U.S., the father-son duo want to explore universities here. Ashok, meanwhile, is also preparing to write GATE and GRE as plan-B to join premiere institutions in the country.
Senthil Kumar Vinayagam, who is the Business Head of Magoosh, pointed out that top tire companies have their main branches in the U.S. and students believed that a course done in one of these top Universities will facilitate a smooth transition to a well-paid job.
“Canada is the second most popular choice since immigration laws are comparatively liberal here,” he said.
Senior Associate at MPower Financing Yuvish Singh, who also handles global businesses, explained that his company provides non-collateral loans to the students with high potential and those who aspired to pursue their education in the U.S. and Canada.
