Most Indian students planning to study abroad expect to return to India after completing their education, with 81% saying they intend to come back, according to a survey by Oxford International, reported TOI.
Nearly nine in 10 respondents were the first in their family to pursue overseas education, while almost half said the decision to study abroad was their own.
The findings are from the third edition of the Student Global Mobility Index by Oxford International. The study combined 17,925 responses to core survey questions with around 2,400 additional responses covering subjects such as course preferences, family background, information sources and post-study plans.
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Another 15% of respondents said they planned to apply for jobs after graduation, without specifying whether they intended to work in India or overseas.
The survey showed a steady rise in students making independent decisions about studying abroad. The share of self-motivated applicants increased from 29% in 2023-24 to 34% in 2024-25 and reached 49% in 2025-26. During the same period, family influence declined from 59% to 37% and then 36%.
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Younger students were more likely to depend on family guidance, while older applicants increasingly made their own decisions. Self-motivation was highest among students from north and south India, whereas family influence remained strongest in the west and central regions.
Postgraduate programmes continued to dominate student preferences, with seven out of 10 respondents applying for master's or other postgraduate courses. Business and management was the most popular field, chosen by 75% of respondents. Health and medicine followed at 8%, while sciences accounted for 2% and engineering for 1%.
When choosing institutions, 39% of respondents said they found them through Google searches, ahead of education agents at 35%. Google was also the most trusted source of education information, cited by 56% of students. College events were trusted most by 20%, followed by Instagram at 9%, AI tools at 6% and YouTube at 5%.
(With inputs from TOI)
