Despite the recent decline in the number of foreign students taking admission to Osmania University and the English and Foreign Languages University (EFLU), Telangana continues to be one of the attractive destinations in India for foreign students. Competing with bigger states, Telangana now has the fourth highest number of foreign students in India.
According to the recently-published CII-Deloitte report on the annual status of higher education of states and Union Territories in India-2015, Telangana has an enrolment of 2,742 foreign students in 2014-15. This is fourth highest among all the states.
Hyderabad _ which is home to three central universities, the biggest state university and several top institutes of higher education such as ISB, NALSAR and IIT _ attracts a large number of students from West Asian and African countries like Syria, Yemen, Somalia, Iraq, Afghanistan and Nigeria.
The city-based central universities _ the English and Foreign Languages University (EFLU) and the University of Hyderabad (UoH) _ are among the most popular for post-graduate courses while the Osmania University (OU) attracts a majority of foreign students for its under-graduate courses.
Affordable tuition fees, low cost of living compared to other metro cities in the country, English-medium teaching and quality education make Hyderabad the hot destination for education. OU alone gives admission to nearly 1,500 foreign students every year and EFLU admits 154 students to PG courses.
“Though the intake of foreign students in these two universities was affected due to recent volatile political situation in some of the West Asian and African countries, Hyderabad is still the most preferred city for students from these countries,” said Raghu Ram, a senior education consultant here.
According to data available with University Foreign Relations Office (UFRO) of OU, the university currently has nearly 4,500 students hailing from 87 countries. A majority of them have come to pursue courses in science and technology. The University of Hyderabad accommodates more than 300 foreign students in its Study India Programme (SIP) to which students from various countries take admission.
Source: The New Indian Express