The survey also revealed that 58% of students had a limited understanding of the visa guidelines. Source: Shutterstock
More than 70% of Indian students who aspire to study abroad are willing to opt for hybrid programmes – a combination of online and offline learning – in a bid to save money, a survey conducted by The WorldGrad, a tech-enabled overseas education platform, has revealed.
According to the study involving over 4,000 candidates, 72% of the students surveyed have opted for the hybrid model to cut down on their expenses without compromising with the quality of education. This figure rose from 55% just a few months ago, the survey results highlighted.
Hybrid learning is practical as it is relatively cost-effective and saves time. But according to The WorldGrad, students’ inclination towards hybrid learning was caused by the most recent wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. In many cases, parents took the final call for these students.
"About 66.8% of the students have accepted that the ongoing wave of COVID-19 has impacted their overseas study plan. In a lot of cases, parents were uncomfortable with their children moving overseas amid a global pandemic,” a statement from The WorldGrad read.
“Not surprisingly, the handling of COVID-19 by destination countries was the third most important criterion while choosing a country for studies," it added.
The United States of America emerged as the most favoured overseas education location among Indian students with 41% of the votes, followed by Canada with 21%, Australia with 18% and the United Kingdom with 16%.
The survey also revealed that 58% of students had a limited understanding of the visa guidelines and that the pandemic has contributed to this information asymmetry.