Sanjiv Sud, Head of Retail Banking and Wealth Management, HSBC India, said, “Education costs are lower in emerging markets such as India because the state-run universities are heavily funded by the Government and also the cost of living for overseas students is lower here.”
HSBC’s latest survey titled “The Value of Education: Springboard for success” questioned over 4,500 parents in 15 countries and territories about their attitudes and behavior towards children’s education around the world. The poll excluded the cost of education at Ivy League colleges.
Researchers’ analyzed data collected of the average tuition cost for international students in the top 10 largest institutions in each country. The cost of living was calculated taking into consideration inflation.
As per the findings, Australia, Singapore and the US bagged the top three positions in terms of expenditures incurred by overseas students. Australia offers the most expensive college degree with students having to shell out $42,093 a year to meet University fees and living costs. Next on the expenditure chart is Singapore at $39,229 followed by the USA at $36,564.
K P Singh, an overseas studies counselor, said, “Singapore’s dollar is growing at a faster rate and therefore education there is getting expensive. The dollar rate has grown almost three times in three years.”
Undergraduate students from foreign countries have to spend around $35,045 a year for studies and living in the UK. The survey found, the comparative yearly cost for an overseas student stands at $12,627 in Brazil, $10,729 in China and $9,460 in Mexico.
Surprisingly, education costs in India (included in the study only this year), as a foreign destination is less than in Turkey, China and Mexico. In India, the average annual cost (including university fees and living expenditure) for an undergraduate overseas student is $5,643, of which $581 is university fees.
The study also ranked the quality of education offered in these 15 nations. About 62 per cent of Indian parents ranked their nation among their top three destinations in terms of quality of education. Despite the high cost, US emerged as the most preferred destination where best education is delivered followed by Britain, Germany and then Australia.
“The key reasons to send children overseas are the acquisition of foreign languages, international experience, and independence,” the report said quoting HSBC’s head of wealth management Simon Williams.
