Women from hinterlands seek foreign degrees
Young women in India’s small towns and hinterlands are increasingly aspiring for a foreign degree. This is evident in the surging demand for educational loans as well as applications to international universities.
As of December-end, women comprised nearly 45% of the students who availed educational loans from non-metro cities by education loan provider Avanse Financial Services.
“We have observed a consistent growth in the number of female students applying for education financing to study abroad from tier II, III and beyond cities,” said Amit Gainda, managing director and CEO at Avanse Financial Services. The number has been rising post-pandemic from 34% in FY21 to 38-40% in FY22 and FY23.
“We envisage that this number will keep growing as more female students are embracing the traditionally male-dominated fields such as Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics (STEM) courses,” said Gainda.
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Vijayawada, Jaipur, Coimbatore, Guntur, Surat, Warangal, Visakhapatnam, Ludhiana, Patiala, Guwahati, Nagpur, Raipur, Rajkot, Amravati, Bijnor, Chandigarh, Hubbali, and Jalandhar are among the cities accounting for majority of female students looking to acquire a foreign degree, according to lenders and education consultants.
Study abroad consultants such as Yocket, Collegify, and Karan Gupta Consulting said the number of women applicants to universities in the US, UK and European countries have risen significantly in the last few years.
Growing openness
