98% Growth In Study Abroad Loan Applications In 2022: Reports

COVID-19 turned the education ecosystem on its head overnight causing a displacement around the world, and the overseas education sector was no different.

According to data from the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), the pandemic had resulted in a 55 per cent dip in 2020 in the number of students who have gone abroad compared to 2019. Now, with a sense of normalcy returning with relaxations in visa processes and mass vaccination, the overseas education market is set to revive itself and the data from Prodigy Finance corroborates this.  

Prodigy Finance, a UK-based FinTech company that helps global students pursue their dream degrees at the world’s best schools by providing collateral-free education loans for overseas applications, has observed 98 per cent  growth in study abroad loan applications in the first three months of 2022 vs the first three months of 2021. Of which, tier-II and tier-III cities including Vijayawada, Visakhapatnam, Guntur, Warangal and Tirupati among others have contributed 176 per cent of this growth.  

Some other interesting insights from the report include -  

• The top 5 popular business schools for Indian applicants in 2021 were INSEAD, London Business School, IESE Business School, Wharton School, Booth School of Business 

• The top 5 popular engineering schools for Indian applicants in 2021 were Northeastern University, Carnegie Mellon University, University of Texas at Arlington, Arizona State University, University at Buffalo 

• The average loan amount for the study abroad applications was $42K

• Most preferred streams for studying abroad are Business, Engineering, Healthcare, Law, Public Policy and Science 

• 67 per cent of applicants were male while 33% of applications were female growing at a rate of 58 per cent and 54 per cent respectively 

Mayank Sharma, Country Head, Prodigy Finance said; “The Indian foreign education landscape has undergone a massive change in the post-COVID-19 era. With the opening up of international travel, easing of various restrictions and vaccinations being ramped up, the global education sector has started to pick up. The number of applications of Indian students for admission to foreign universities has gradually been on a rise.” 

In nurturing students’ dreams, Prodigy Finance has funded over USD 1 billion worth of student loans, for nearly 25,000 students from 130 nationalities worldwide and is backed by marquee investors such as Index Ventures and Balderton.