This report was conceptualised by CII in 2014 in order to bring together facts and figures on the number of international students in India at one place and also provide expert analysis of issues and concerns facing the institutes which were desirous of attracting international students. The idea had emanated from the “Annual Occasional Paper” on this subject which the Association of Indian Universities (AIU) produces every year. This paper was used as the “base” of this report in the previous three editions and further papers were invited from experts. This year, AIU enlarged the scope and coverage of its“occasional paper” and produced a report with more detailed analysis.
In the fourth edition of our report, therefore, we have moved away from the AIU paper in order to bring a different perspective – that of institutes which house international students. The institutes were identified on the basis of AIU report itself and were invited to share their case studies in a particular format. The idea was to understand the drivers of internationalization, look at best practices and provide wider audience to those institutes which have emerged as centres of excellence in this regard.
One common thing that all case studies show is that having dedicated international offices on campuses is essential to take care of the requirements of students coming from different nationalities, cultures and ethnic backgrounds. Medical insurance and visa related assistance is also helpful for newcomers into the country. Private institutes are able to handle these issues well as the spread of institutes which sent their case studies shows – three out of four are private with University of Mysore being the exception. For a public funded institute UM has a very well defined international strategy in place which is how it should be with other public institutions.
The salient features of this report include:
10 Things India can do to Become a Hub for International Education
Case Study: Symbiosis International
Case Study: University of Mysore
Case Study: VIT University
Case Study: Sharda University