Inflation: The Beginning Of A New Study Abroad Era?

“As rupee romances 80 VS dollar, a survey says 3 in 4 Indians tense about price rise”

“Alarming fall of Indian rupee against US dollar”

“Shocking fall of Indian rupee, what does the economic future entail?”

Listed above are news headlines from articles and segments that we encounter on a regular basis. Every time they greet us, we’re riddled with doubts and insecurities. A persistent question that has haunted everyone from economists to the common man is: what next? As academic consultants who engage in discourses about the dollar on a daily basis, we strive to put forth a transparent blueprint of expected expenditure before students and parents—and find ourselves riding similar waves of uncertainty! Is there a way to defeat inflation? Will the sudden upsurge of the dollar lead to decreased interest in overseas education? The questions are endless.

However, dealing with inquisitive young minds has enabled us to master the art of uncovering solutions. For us, an education consultancy is synonymous with an organization dedicated to problem-solving. In fact, we find ourselves engaging in real-time problem-solving almost on a daily basis. Thus, listed below are ways to not just triumph over, but also familiarize students with the past, present, and future of a relentless reality such as inflation.
Just like Rome, study abroad plans cannot be built in a day. 

Compare the two sentences written below. Which one hits harder for you, and why?

• Sentence 1: “I want my child to study abroad, in a well-reputed US university.”
• Sentence 2: “I want my child to study abroad in a well-reputed US university, 13,510 kilometers away from home, where I will be paying anything between $65,000-$75,000 per year.”

Surely, it’s the latter, since it leaves a rather bitter aftertaste about expectations that most clients have with regard to education abroad. It is important to understand that catchy taglines and glossy photographs on websites that talk about ranking and reputation provide only a very external viewpoint. For example, according to government data, 1.33 lakh Indian students departed India for higher education by March 20 in 2022. In 2021, the figure was 4.44 lakh; 2.59 in 2020, and 5.86 in 2019. Most left for the USA, Canada, and the UK. Even those with generous scholarships were worried since a lot of them do not cover living and personal expenses. And for young adults moving to an entirely new territory, such matters are often hard to tackle. There’s no question that when compared to previous generations, academic institutions are charging today’s students significantly more for higher education. According to a recent report from the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce, the average living expenses for an undergraduate degree have increased by a staggering 169% between 1980 and 2020. In addition to this, tuition fees have experienced significant hikes, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, certain specialization courses often cost way beyond what students and parents can afford. There is a lot more that goes into studying abroad and the mentioned “lot more” entails the cost of one’s physical and mental well-being. Naturally, this involves well-planned financial mapping, investment, and concentrating one’s funds on policies that promise high returns. Studying abroad is no less than building a city of one’s own, and thus it truly cannot be built in a day. As convention holds space for families to dream and plan elaborate weddings for their children, a glowing aspiration for sending them abroad deserves the same spectrum of attention—if not more.

Invest in the best! 

As discussed previously, planning one’s education abroad is an investment on multiple levels, be it emotional or financial. Thus, it is important to direct one’s time, money, and efforts to places of repute that guarantee returns. In other words, one must ensure that one’s study abroad plans are goal-oriented with the foremost aim of gaining admission into a premier college. Going abroad for the sake of going abroad or compromising on the quality of education by not caring about whether one is attending a tier-1 or tier-2 school are big no-nos. More often than not, the entire prospect of planning to study abroad is looked upon as some kind of recreational activity. But, going abroad to pursue tertiary education is not a vacation. It is a period of academic rigor and diligence that could ascertain the rest of one’s life. So it is crucial to make a choice between four years of leisure or forty years of a purposeful, well-channeled career network. If the presence and option of this choice are recognized, realized, and truly pursued, only then will the study-abroad plans and aspirations bear fruit.

As for methods of financial security when applying or going abroad, it is imperative that we explore and examine all avenues of monetary support. Almost all banks of repute now provide options like SIPs, Mutual Funds, and education loans. There are also plans drawn up by companies and startups that aid overseas education. It is advisable to get thorough information about all such systems and then invest accordingly, so as to reap maximum benefits later on.

Looking into educational institutions in India

The key mantra to success as far as the study-abroad process goes—the only mantra, perhaps—is to “embrace an eagle-eye view, analyze and then decide”. An eagle-eye view is considered to be unbiased, neutral, and holistic as compared to most other perceptions which turn out to be somewhat biased and skewed. Before finalizing one’s university or even commencing the application and shortlisting process, it is important to scrutinize the student scenario through a top-down lens, accounting for all possible variables such as finances, internships, institution reputation, research, ranking, etc. It is important for all the mentioned variables to align in order to equip the student to tread the path toward their aspired college. If these variables do not align, a student’s study abroad dreams may lose meaning on an individual front and self-assigned purpose crumble away. This will leave behind a herd mindset and the student will no longer want to go abroad for herself; the purpose will be to follow the crowd, the typical teenage fear of missing out. Here, quality and long-term success will take a definite backseat. To avoid being trapped in such a scenario, it is important for students to explore institutions in India as well. More often than not, students applying and aspiring to study abroad look upon possibilities in India through an inferior perspective, simply because they wrongly attribute a certain glory to education abroad. Thus, it is important for students and parents to look at possibility and probability with a holistic eye—one that is objective and devoid of the glory bias. 

Fear of Missing Out (FOMO)

When Frank Sinatra said “if I can make it there, I’ll make it anywhere” about New York, he never meant for you to make it your be-all, end-all of academic dreams, we promise! Especially with parents who often want their children to stand out in every room they step into, the achievement of getting into an international university is announced as “the child is going to study abroad” without mentioning the course, the name of the university, or other related factors—almost as if the move itself is greater than the individual and all their preexisting achievements! The focus remains on how the child is going to leave India and go to the USA, thus permanently attaching the golden glory of the USA with the child’s future, leaving behind the “inferior” educational scope of India. Literary phrases like the “American dream” are often served along with the hors-d'oeuvres of drawing room conversations. Who doesn’t subscribe to the idea of making it big in an international superpower like the USA where things are supposed to be better than they are anywhere else, right? Wrong.

In fact, giving into the obsession to go abroad simply for reasons pertaining to conformity or social validation may even decelerate a student’s career and lead to a crippling need to re-evaluate personal desires against societal conventions. The career trajectory of a student in the USA may not change much as long as there is no productive reason behind it, and meanwhile, another student in India may achieve a lot more within a similar span of time because they’ve invested their financial, emotional and intellectual resources in the right ways. Ultimately, it is imperative that we shirk off the FOMO associated with what our neighbor or our relative’s daughter is doing in her semester abroad and concentrate on finding our children the right-sized shoes that fit. After all, there’s no better way to waltz through a crowded ballroom than when one’s wearing comfortable pumps. In a lot of ways, (education abroad) stilettos are overrated!

This article was originally published by The Economic Times on 22nd August 2022.