British Universities lure Indian students with scholarships

Indian students enthusiastic about exploring the foreign soil for further studies can give it a shot as more British universities are  offering scholarships to woo their Indian counterpart.

A first of its kind survey conducted by London University International Partnership (LUIP) and carried  on 17 universities in Great Britain has found that in total an average of Rs 250 million (2.5 million Pound) has been awarded to students each year from India and over Rs 700 million (7million Pound) over the last three years, a daily has reported.

The British Council recently announced the biggest number of scholarships in India ever launched in a year by offering 370 scholarships worth almost 1 million pound across UK universities.

The LUIP Alumni Survey found that 24 per cent and 19 per cent of students in UK hailed from Mumbai and Delhi (NCR), respectively.

Academic disciples chosen by the survey respondents are varied. A majority, around 31 per cent, of them studied business, 26 per cent studied Science, Technology, Engineering & Math (STEM), 19 per cent studied Arts & Humanities, 17 per cent studied Social Sciences, and 6 per cent studied Health & Medicine.

Britain's stance on migration however is increasingly putting hurdles for Indian students in exploring opportunities there.

 original source : http://indiatoday.intoday.in/education/story/british-universities-lure-indian-students-with-scholarships-study/1/370647.html

Top US university sees sharp rise in Indian students

One of the world's best academic institutions said the number of Indians in the institution was multiplying.

Nicholas Dirks, chancellor of the University of California, Berkeley, who was recently in Bangalore, said applications from India for the undergraduate programmes in the university was rising dramatically.

Last year, there were some 1,300 applicants from India for the undergraduate programmes, of which 150 were admitted. The number of admissions of Indians have doubled in the past five years, said Dirks, who incidentally has spent significant time in India since his early life, can speak Tamil and is married to an Indian-origin academic. He said that of the 5,000 international students in UC, Berkeley, 500 were Indians. The university's total student strength is about 35,000.

UC, Berkeley, features routinely in the top ranks of most university rankings. In the 2013 Times Higher Education World Reputation Rankings, Berkeley was ranked the world's 5th most prestigious university and one of six globally recognized 'super brands'. US News and World Report has ranked Berkeley as the No. 1 public university (Berkeley is government funded) in the world in each of the past 16 years.

The university's faculty, alumni, and researchers have won 72 Nobel Prizes, 15 Turing Awards, often referred to as the Nobel Prize of computer science, and 11 Pulitzer Prizes. Its location in Silicon Valley has meant it has - as has Stanford - very close links with the technology industry. Its alumni includes Google chairman Eric Schmidt, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, Intel co-founder Gordon Moore, and Doug Engelbart, inventor of the computer mouse.

"We are the gold standard in undergraduate education and in research," Dirks said. He said a lot of students want to do startups. "Many will create their own careers," he said.

Dirks is an India scholar, and is married to Janaki Bakhle, who is currently associate professor in the history department at UC, Berkeley. He first came to India in 1963 when his father, who was a professor at Yale University, moved to Chennai (then Madras) on research work. Dirks developed an interest in Indian culture and his most famous works, including The Hollow Crown: Ethnohistory of an Indian Kingdom, Castes of Mind, and Scandal of Empire, deal with how British rule shaped the culture of the Indian subcontinent, and how Britain's development came to be influenced by its colonies.

Dirks said he was impressed with the progress India had made in technology. "This hotel I'm staying in has more technology than in any that I have stayed before in the world," he said.

He said he was keen on Berkeley students and faculty working together with Indian institutions to develop inexpensive, usable and scalable projects in areas like new kinds of kerosene stoves, new ways to hook up a smartphone to a biotech device that can, say, do an eye examination in half an hour.

He said several collaborations were already on, among them with the IITs, TIFR (Tata Institute of Fundamental Research), Ashoka University. "We want to focus on areas like urban planning, energy, climate change, sustainability, biotech, liberal arts education. Our faculty drives the collaborations. My job is to put them together," he said, and added there was no proposal to establish an arm of the university in India.
original source : http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/education/news/Top-US-university-sees-sharp-rise-in-Indian-students/articleshow/36352118.cms

Graduate school applications from Indian students to US schools surges by 32 per cent

Indian students are increasingly choosing US as a destination for graduate studies. The numbers surged dramatically by 32 percent found a study by the Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) reported by IANS.

A 32 percent increase in applications from India, which accounts for 18 percent of all international graduate students at US institutions offset a one percent decline in applications from China, from where one third of the students come.

CGS President Debra W. Stewart noted the 7 percent gain is a positive sign for US graduate institutions, which collectively draw 15 percent of their overall graduate enrolments from international students.

"Yet this year's increase is not necessarily a sign of ongoing stability in international graduate applications and enrolments," she said, "especially since a large share of the growth appears to be driven by a single country" - namely India.

Thus the preliminary number of applications from prospective international students to US graduate schools increased 7 percent in 2014, up from the 2 percent increase seen in 2013, according to the CGS International Graduate Admissions Survey.

This year's encouraging increase is more consistent with the growth trend in international graduate applications seen between 2006 and 2012, after a post-9/11 decrease said the survey.

China, India, South Korea, Taiwan and Canada are the top five countries of origin for international graduate students in the United States, the report said. The survey covers in detail seven countries - China, India, South Korea, Taiwan, Canada, Mexico, and Brazil) and three regions -the Middle East, Africa and Europe.

Altogether, the seven countries and three regions highlighted in the CGS International Graduate Admissions Survey are home countries to about 86 percent of all international graduate students in the US.

CGS President Debra W. Stewart noted the 7 percent gain is a positive sign for US graduate institutions, which collectively draw 15 percent of their overall graduate enrolments from international students.

"Yet this year's increase is not necessarily a sign of ongoing stability in international graduate applications and enrolments," she said, "especially since a large share of the growth appears to be driven by a single country" - namely India.

"Historically, our ability to recruit the best and brightest international graduate students has enabled the US to become a leader in ground-breaking research and innovations," she said.

"International students stimulate the US economy and research enterprise in many important ways, and we must develop policies that encourage strong, stable growth in international graduate applications and enrolments," Stewart said.

Preliminary increases in applications varied by broad field, the report said. The three most popular fields of study-engineering, physical and earth sciences, and business-together account for 64 percent of all international students enrolled in US graduate programmes

They were also the fastest growing, at 14 percent, 16 percent, and 7 percent, respectively. Gains in applications were also found in 2014 in arts and humanities (3 percent) and other fields (2 percent).

Rates of international applications to social sciences and psychology programmes were unchanged from the prior year.

Applications in education declined 1 percent and life sciences fell, 6 per cent.

original source :- India Today