High Interest In Foreign B-Schools But Jobs Are A Concern

Management is a popular choice for postgraduate studies abroad but with the recent downturn, many students are looking to return to India, say experts.

- Sheena Sachdeva

In the 2021-22 academic year, India sent close to two lakh - 1,99,182 students to the United States for higher education. Of them, 13.3% roughly 26,000 went for business and management programmes, shows data from Open Doors 2022, a US State Department-funded initiative.

Indian study-abroad consultants report that interest in pursuing management abroad in the US and elsewhere has risen again after the Covidrelated slump but securing employment after the course is a problem with the pandemic and Ukraine war straining even developed economics. Rohit Singh [name changed], 32, graduated with an MBA from Georgetown University in June 2022 and found a job with an online retail major in Seattle but found the process challenging. "Landing a job with no proper placement system is challenging because the number of companies hiring and sponsoring international students is smaller compared to firms recruiting native students who don't need a sponsorship or visa," he explained.

Nikhil Jain, co-founder and chief operating officer of ForiegnAdmits, a business-to-business study-abroad consultancy, said that while MBAs from UK universities typically have bright prospects, many students are "looking to return due to inflation in UK markets". He added: "Also, compared to the number of students going for an MBA, the employment opportunities are less."

Nikhil Jain, Co-founder and Chief Operating Officer, ForiegnAdmits Compared to the number of students going for an MBA, the employment opportunities are less

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"The best MBA destinations like the US, UK, Australia and Singapore, have seen a 44% increase in students going for the course till October 2022, over the previous year," said Aman Singh, founder, GradRight, a studyabroad education consultant.