Indian parents favour US for wards to study abroad

Although the US is an expensive destination, it is the top choice for Indian parents, according to a report.

The third report in HSBC's The Value of Education series, titled Foundations for the future, has revealed 58 per cent of parents had the US in their top three destinations list, among 50 countries.

This, notwithstanding that the US is also the most-expensive destination, with average annual tuition fees of $33,215 per year for international university students.

The report represents the views of 6,241 parents in 15 countries, including Australia, Canada, China, Egypt, France, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, Singapore, Taiwan, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom and the US.
 
“An international university education for their child is a highly desirable ambition for many parents. However, it comes at higher costs, with living expenses and air fares on top of tuition fees,” HSBC India Head of Retail Banking and Wealth Management S Ramakrishnan said.

For Indian parents, the top three countries where they are most likely to send their child to university are the USA, Australia and the UK, the report said.

When parents were asked for the top three reasons to best explain why they would chose an international university education, more than half (57 per cent) said it was for the international work experience, 57 per cent said it would increase confidence while 53 per cent said it was for the exposure to new experiences, ideas and cultures.

The report also revealed that the proportion of parents who would consider university abroad for their child is relatively high, where almost half of those surveyed (47 per cent) said they would want to send their children to universities abroad.

The top three barriers, however, for sending the child to universities abroad are higher costs to the parents (43 per cent), higher costs for the child (29 per cent) and because the child could get homesick (28 per cent), it added.