America
Indian 'Highfliers' set to boost student numbers in US
By
Arun KumarWashington, Feb 8
A new segment of 'Highflier'
students, who are likely to be both academically prepared and
financially independent, are expected to boost the stagnant number of
Indian students in US institutions, according to an Indian-American
expert.
World Education Services (WES), a not for profit
organization that provides evaluations of international credentials to
institutions in the US and Canada, groups students into four categories -
Highfliers, Explorers, Strivers and Strugglers.
Indian students
are most likely to be Strivers, who seek "value for money" and are
highly dependent on bank loans or financial support from universities,
says Rahul Choudaha of WES Research & Advisory Services.
Strivers
also tend to enrol in STEM related fields of study that have good
employment potential. Many follow it with a 29-month Optional Practical
Training (OPT) experience in the IT industry and finally seek H1-visas
for employment, he says.
In 2013/14, 27 percent of all Indian students in the US were on OPT as compared to 12 percent of all international students.
The majority are concentrated in large US metro areas with ample IT jobs like New York and San Jose.
Enrolments
from China, India, and Saudi Arabia accounted for 81 percent of the 8
percent overall annual growth of international students in the US
between 2013 and 2014, according to the latest Institute of
International Education (IIE) Open Doors data.
According to WES' segmentation study, students from China are most likely to have the financial means to afford a US education.
Saudi
students also have high financial resources but they are more likely to
be supported by government-funded scholarships, while Indian students
are the most likely to rely on loans and institutional financial aid.
In
contrast to the traditional value-for-money orientation of Indian
Strivers, a new emerging segment of Indian Highfliers will be more
inclined to seek quality of experience over other considerations when
applying to US universities, according to Choudaha.
Attributing
the emergence of the Indian Highflier market to economic growth and
associated changes in Indian society, he says Highfliers will not be as
financially constrained as Strivers and will be ready to invest in
fields of study beyond STEM degrees.
The economic liberalisation
and growth of new sectors like the IT services industry during the
1990's has created a new class of well-compensated white collar
professionals.
The Highflier children of these professionals are
now getting ready for college and will become the main drivers of
international mobility among Indian students, Choudaha says.
The
growth in the number of Highflier students from India will take a few
years to fully impact overall enrolment patterns, and it will not be as
marked as the explosion of Explorer students from China, he says.
However,
US institutions would be well placed to make the most of this emerging
opportunity by adapting their internationalisation strategies to the
unique characteristics, needs and decision-making processes of Indian
Highflier students, he suggested.
(Arun Kumar can be contacted at [email protected])