siliconindia | | September 20198VIEW POINTAccording to most surveys, the average cost of an American college is approxi-mately $30,000 per annum. That means about 21 lakh Indian rupees, which gen-erally doubles with stay, food and other expenses. Now, we are talking about Rs.40 lakhs per year. Multiply that twice, even four times, depending on the length of one's foreign education degree (undergraduate or postgraduate), and one is staring at this insurmount-able figure well in excess of a couple of crores. This pre-sents a huge opportunity for a country like India, an op-portunity to build our country as a new global hub for higher education.The foundation for this is already laid. India is at the cusp of becoming that global hub. But what more can be done? Let us explore the present situation and future steps that can pave the way for us to become the centre for higher education.OUTBOUND NOW INBOUNDTraditionally, India was not seen as a fitting option for higher education by most native students. The US, UK, and more recently Australia and South East Asia are cen-tres that attract a vast majority of outbound Indian stu-dents to their various colleges and universities for gradu-ate and postgraduate programs. However, this trend, albeit on the rise within India and among Indian students, does not reflect how India itself has emerged as a viable and attractive option for foreign nationals as a destina-tion for their higher education. There has been, over the past decade, a transformational increase in the number of private universities within India. These newer universities and colleges offer an enviable mix of value (in terms of cost of education), new-age and current infrastructure & facilities, world-class faculty, and a support structure by way of relatively inexpensive living costs; all of which come together to present an enticing higher education prospect that is hard to ignore, especially when com-pared with other countries that formed the mainstay of foreign higher education. Adding to this, the fact that it has become increasingly difficult to gain admission into sought-after Western colleges & programs and still more difficult to solicit scholarships, India then seems to be a much more realistic option.ECONOMIC POWER SHIFTThe other reason for the rising foreign students' influx into India (estimated at 30,000 students in 2018) is the global economic power shift. We live in an era where the established economic status-quo is being questioned. From traditional power centres of the Americas and Eu-rope losing some of their clout, jobs, growth rates, op-portunities moving East, specifically to countries such as China and India, more and more foreign nationals are open to the idea of seeking work and settling in Asia. It only follows then as a natural corollary that just the way one sought American education in order to work in Amer-ica, today, to find employment or business opportunities in India and/or Asia, study here itself. It will ostensibly prepare students better with academics more aligned with local work ethos & requirements, culturally more in sync, and present an opportunity to network in the region while still studying, expediting the job-hunt post acquiring that higher education degree.THE ALLURE OF SPECIFIC SUBJECTSOver time, Indians have created an enviable reputation as experts in specific areas, particularly Engineering and IT By Kartik Bajoria, Writer, Educator & ModeratorKartik's writing offers ideas, suggestions, thoughts and insights into searching for a deeper meaning in bringing-up a new, young generation of students who must seek a differentiated identity all by their own so that they can evolve into fully actualized and happy adults.PAVE THE WAY TO GLOBAL HUB FOR HIGHER EDUCATION
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