Should you fund your child's foreign education with savings, a loan, or both?

livemint.com:

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. As festivities bring families and friends together, dinner table conversations more often than not turn to children and their future. This time it was around higher education, a topic that is particularly resonant for me as a parent of a 13-year-old son.

With high school approaching, I want him to explore the world and its opportunities, so he can make informed decisions about his educational path. Like any parent, this is a top priority for me too, knowing that these choices will shape not only his academic journey but also his future. I am personally a strong supporter of the Indian education system, particularly higher education, where our institutions offer impressive academic capabilities.

Also Read: Financing your path to success: All you need to know about education loans However, we do see increasingly students and parents evaluating overseas education for higher studies, with the top five destinations being the US, UK, Canada, Australia, and Singapore. In a recent study, The HSBC Quality of Life Report 2024, we found that 78% of Indian respondents either aspire to send their child overseas to study or already have a child studying in an foreign university. In fact, over two million Indian students are expected to study abroad by 2025.

An international course is expensive, with the cost of education usually driven by factors such as inflation, currency fluctuations, and increasing living expenses. To give you some perspective, the annual cost of an international university on an average is around $64,000, so a three- or four-year degree would cost $1,92,000 to $256,000 per student. Despite the rising cost of international education, many affluent Indian parents are eager to