Two recent reports confirm that international students are keen to travel again to take up face-to-face learning in overseas degree programmes, even if it means vaccination and quarantine to make it happen.
IDP Connect’s International Student Crossroads research used the results of 6,000 participants from over 57 countries who were all hoping to study in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the UK or the USA and found that 55% were aiming to get the Covid-19 jab as soon as they could, implying they were keen to head to countries requiring this before entry.
Further evidence that students prefer an international experience is illustrated by the following results: 39% of applicants said they would be inclined to choose another destination if it meant face-to-face learning sooner and 30% went so far as saying they would give up a scholarship if it meant face-to-face learning in a different destination.
Research also found that countries have been changing position in terms of attractiveness to students during this time. Though Australia and New Zealand still lead as the most popular destinations, according to the latest Navitas Agent Perception Report, which surveyed almost 900 education agents in 73 countries, both the UK and Canada are in a strong position to reclaim their appeal. Even the USA, recently lagging behind the others, is starting to show signs of catching up, perhaps because of the change of administration.
Meanwhile, Singapore is showing indications of taking its place as an emerging contender for international studies. However, in terms of actual student numbers, agents are on the whole taking a wait-and-see approach as countries grapple with coming out of the pandemic.
As far as students are concerned, though, it looks like online university classes just don’t provide the benefits of sitting in a real seminar in an international setting.