Asia: The next destination for higher education

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-12671198

Asia, more particularly India and China are going to be the most sought after destination for higher education in the coming decade (if not earlier).

China increasing its quality of education - China has been trying to attract foreign students since a long time and more importantly to retain its students who go abroad for studies in huge numbers. The quantity of schools and universities is not a problem for China, but the inherent quality of education to match with the Harvards and Oxfords of the world is a key challenge. However, with Capital in hand it can reform this and make itself the next best option after US and UK and may be exceed them in near future.

India - with reforms in the education sector which now provides permission to foreign universities to setup campuses and courses in India, we are already seeing foreign universities setup in India. We might soon see a Harvard and Cambridge in India, and coupled with the quality of facutly India has, it can be a very lucrative destination for foreign students.

UK set to reduce immigration levels - with UK set to curb immigration for non-EU citizens from April 2011, which might impact students coming for higher education (UK's education export amounts to almost £40billion). We will definitely see more students choosing to study at home in Asia rather than going abroad.

We have already seen decline in number of student intakes in the last few years in Australia due to visa/work restrictions and other reasons. And with a fear of double dip recession still looming over USA, we might see a decline in people opting for the states as the destination for foreign education (however, I believe USA will still remain the hottest destination for near future).

Another factor to consider is the level of opportunities people are exposed to after they come out of universities with MS, MBA, PhD and other degrees in hand. Pay levels (which are higher in USA/UK) are definitely a factor and if we start seeing such levels in Asia (Singapore/HK already have such levels), this can be a defining factor in attracting people to study and work in Asia.

Also read - India- the next university Superpower?

Almost half way through my MBA

Yeah, I am doing an MBA from Cranfield School of Management and already neck deep into it. Next week, we have mid term exams and I will be half way done through my MBA.

Here are a few musings from my MBA so far:

Its fun : Those who think doing an MBA is tough, competitive and way too difficult after lots of work experience, I would say its not. Its quite a lot of fun actually. The work load is manageable, competitive and we do have lots of parties here (especially since we live far away from London).

There is always something happening here: We are always upto something. We had the VCIC competition recently, some people are doing Hult global challenge, a few are deep into preparing for Regatta, Ski Trip, Eastern european extravaganza etc. We had pancakes day last week, having a St Patricks day this week, an auction for supporting London Marathon this friday apart from Career's fair tomorrow, and Venture capitalist's briefing, Exam reviews, couple of assignment submissions, and job interviews for a few of us. Boy ! Its a lot to chew.

And if I add what all we had in the first term, I would be going on and on about it... People here have amazing levels of energy and are extremely supportive.

 

Vote for Project 'Paani' (Water)

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A few of my colleagues are working on Project Paani for a Hult Global Case challenge.

Sincerely request you all to vote for this amazing idea of solving water crisis in countries around the world that need it.