Indian students look at Italy as alternate study abroad target

EXPLORING OPTIONS | Restrictions Grow Elsewhere

- Simple Vishwakarma

With countries like Australia, Canada, and the UK tightening their policies and imposing restrictions on international students, Indian students are finding a new, unexpected pick for higher education: Italy. According to data from Uni Italia, the official centre promoting Italian higher education, around 10,000 Indian students are now enrolled in institutions across Italy in 2023. Of them, more than 2,000 students were from Delhi alone.

Breaking down the data shows about 28% of these students attend private schools and AFAM (Alta Formazione Artistica e Musicale), while the remaining 72% are studying at public universities. With 38% of enrolments, master's degree programmes are the most popular among Indian students. First-level master's courses follow at 34%, and three-year degree programs account for about 20%.

Why Italy?

Indian student Barnabh Chandra Goswami, an Electronics Engineering student specialising in embedded systems at Politecnico di Torino University, shared his views on this growing trend. "I will say Indian students in Europe are not increasing dramatically; rather, the number is growing gradually," he explained. "This trend may be related to the quality of infrastructure and facilities available, as education standards are relatively consistent across different regions."