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Expert's View
How international is international study for today’s prospective graduate students? It’s an interesting question and once again, QS has made some interesting discoveries about the market for international graduate programs and how diverse and varied it actually is.
The QS Graduate Applicant Research indicates 45 possible country destinations of interest to prospective graduate students. Though a number of countries dominate the results, the sheer variety of country destinations is quite staggering, representing six of the seven continents, from higher education systems in Argentina and Spain to those in Thailand and the United Arab Emirates. As a prospective student interested in studying away from your home country, the choices – and these are genuinely viable choices – available to you are reaching never before seen proportions. Rather than just the traditional countries that offer internationally recognized and good quality graduate degree programs, you are now faced with some exotic choices. Put simply, who would have thought that more and more students from Europe would consider studying on the other side of the world in Australia just three or four years ago? The reality now is that anyone can study anywhere, making the pursuit of graduate education particularly exciting at the moment.
With more than 200,000 international graduate students currently studying in the USA, it is no surprise that the QS Graduate Applicant Research reflects an overwhelming interest in graduate study in programs located in the US. 75.8% of respondents state the US as their first choice, with the UK (58%), Canada (37.1%), Australia (37%), France (22.5%), Germany (20.9%), Singapore (19%), Spain (18.6%), Italy (17.8%) and Switzerland (16.4%) making up the top ten of preferred graduate destinations. The Netherlands (14.7%), Japan (10.6%), Sweden (9.5%) and Ireland (8.6%) are the four next most popular countries.
The top ten European countries for graduate study are the UK (58%), France (22.5%), Germany (20.9%), Spain (18.6%), Italy (17.8%), Switzerland (16.4%), The Netherlands (14.7%), Sweden (9.5%), Ireland (8.6%), and Belgium (7.7%).
The top ten Asian Pacific countries for graduate study are dominated by Australia (37%) and Singapore (19%), though a variety of other destinations are now considered seriously by many prospective graduate candidates, with Japan (10.6%), Hong Kong (7.6%), India (7.5%), Malaysia (5%), China (4.9%), South Korea (3.7%), Thailand (2.7%) and Taiwan (1.4%) completing the list.
The QS Research also illustrates the reasons behind students choosing certain country destinations over others. Dominating the country choice process is the recognition that a country’s qualifications must be recognized internationally. 72.5% of respondents indicate that this is their primary reason for choosing their destination country, underlining the importance placed on the transportability and value of an international qualification to a graduate labour force more mobile than any other in generations gone by. It is now common for students to leave their home country, read their desired graduate program in another country and secure employment in a third: in such a context, recognition of one country’s graduate degrees over another can be the most important factor affecting international student choice.
The culture and lifestyle available in a country destination are often thought to be amongst the most significant influencing factors for international students considering the location of their first degree. However, the QS Graduate Applicant Research demonstrates that graduate candidates also consider this as a significant influencing factor on their country choice. 59% of respondents indicate that the culture and lifestyle of a destination country is the second most important reason for selecting one country over another for future graduate students.
Somewhat unsurprisingly, the third factor influencing graduate student destination choice is the availability of scholarships and other forms of financial aid. 56.7% of respondents rate this as more important than improving language skills (44.6%), opportunities to work after graduation (39.3%), choosing a specific university in which to study (33.2%), family connections (13.3%) and availability of study visas (10.4%).
With few exceptions, the regional results reflect the overall global trends in the area of reasons for country destination choice for prospective graduate students. With the exception of North American students, who place cultural interest (61.3%) and specific target university (56.3%) over the international recognition of a qualification (48.8%), and Asian students who place the availability of scholarships and other forms of financial aid (62.3%) as the second most important factor on country choice.
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