3 days ago
Indian Students Choose Domestic Degrees Before Overseas Study
More Indian students are choosing to attend college in India first.
In 2025, half of the surveyed Cambridge students in India planned to do their undergraduate degree at home.
The year before, 47% planned to do so.
The share planning to study abroad fell from 42% to 40%.
Cambridge says this may be a lasting change, not just a reaction to visas or money problems.
Students and families are looking at the value of the whole education and career journey.
Many now see an Indian bachelor’s degree followed by a foreign master’s degree as a good path.
Students still want international careers, but they are choosing more carefully when to go abroad.
Half of surveyed Cambridge learners in India chose Indian universities for undergraduate study in 2025, up from 47% in 2024.
The share planning to study overseas fell from 42% to 40% over the same period.
The Cambridge Destination Survey 2025-26 describes the change as a structural shift rather than a temporary response to visas, costs or currency pressures.
Indian students are increasingly considering local undergraduate study followed by an overseas master’s degree.
Respondents cited stronger Indian institutions, foreign university branch campuses and wider recognition of international qualifications in India.
- Who
- Indian students and Cambridge learners in India, as reported by Cambridge International Education.
- What
- More students are choosing Indian undergraduate degrees before pursuing possible postgraduate study overseas.
- Where
- India, with comparisons involving other South Asian countries and overseas destinations.
- When
- The survey compares 2025 with 2024 and was released in the week of the report.
- Why
- Students and families are responding to changing views of educational value, alongside costs, visa concerns, stronger Indian institutions and expanded local study options.
Key facts
- Survey
- Cambridge Destination Survey 2025-26
- Global coverage
- 404 schools across 49 countries, representing an estimated 24,637 learners
- Indian responses
- 112 schools in India responded
- Indian undergraduate study, 2025
- 50% of surveyed Cambridge learners headed to university chose to stay in India
- Indian undergraduate study, 2024
- 47% chose to stay in India
- Overseas undergraduate study
- The share fell from 42% in 2024 to 40% in 2025
- Emerging pathway
- Indian undergraduate degree followed by an overseas master’s degree
Quotes
Rod Smith
Group Managing Director of Cambridge International Education
“The definition of value in education is changing. Learners are moving from evaluating the value of a degree to evaluating the value of the entire pathway — from education, to employment, to long-term opportunity.”
indianexpress.com
Sources
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