Cost for Studying Abroad for Indian Students Conducted by Uniguru

Chennai, India, September 15, 2011 --(PR.com)-- Uniguru conducted a study on the cost of education across six popular study destinations - Australia, New Zealand, UK, US, Singapore and Malaysia; then factored in a selection of day-to-day living and student wage figures. The results can help Indian students weigh up the overall costs of a degree in each of these popular study destinations.

Here is the infographic link - http://www.uniguru.co.in/infographics/cost-of-studying-abroad-in.html.

Uniguru examined tuition fees for postgraduate and undergraduate degrees in six popular study destinations: Australia, New Zealand, UK, US, Singapore and Malaysia. While annual course ranges vary, maximum tuition fees in the UK and the USA can exceed Rs 12 lakhs, more than double the maximum amount in Malaysia and Singapore. The minimum average cost for an undergraduate or postgraduate course in the United States will cost students at least Rs 8.61 lakhs a year, which is on par with the maximum charge for a degree in Australia.

An Asian education - based on tuition fees alone - is by far the cheapest option for Indian students, with fees in Malaysia and Singapore starting from as little as Rs 1.27 lakhs and Rs 4.08 lakhs, respectively. Australia is surprisingly well placed in the fees comparison, offering a minimum annual fee of Rs 4.54 lakhs, as this is capped at a reasonable maximum of Rs 9 lakhs.

Uniguru also compared a few essentials like rent, transport and entertainment costs, alongside The Economist’s Big Mac index, to show the cost of living in the six countries.

Australia is the big surprise in this section, topping the chart in all four categories: accommodation, transport, food and entertainment. Students can pay an average of Rs 32,861 a month for a single room, Rs 4,327 for a monthly travel card and Rs 722 for a movie ticket Down Under.

Accommodation costs in NZ, the UK and USA are lower at Rs 29,915, Rs 28,328 and Rs 27,195 respectively, but the most purse-friendly living costs are in Asian study destinations. Malaysia offers the cheapest living costs in all four categories, with average monthly rent costing only Rs 5,212 and transport costs as low as Rs 900.

The overall cost of a degree is also dependent on how much students can earn while studying. It’s reassuring to see that the high cost of living in Australia is supported by the highest minimum hourly wage, at an impressive Rs 704. Students can also balance the higher cost of a degree in the UK, NZ and USA with part-time earnings; these three all offer the chance to earn over Rs 329 an hour. Asian countries perform poorly in the wage category; with a majority of Indian students dependent on wage-earnings from part-time jobs for supplementary income, this could go against Asian countries being chosen as preferred destinations. Malaysia only offers an average hourly wage of Rs 75, with Singapore slightly higher at Rs 179.

Asia and Australasia are clearly the cheapest options for the overall annual cost of tuition fees. Australia fares well in this comparison, as the comparatively high cost of living in Australia is balanced by lower course fees than some of its Western counterparts and by opportunities for students to earn a good hourly part-time wage.

Mike Elms, founder of Hotcourses, had this to say about the comparison: "Quality and cost are always the two most important factors mentioned by Indian students when selecting a destination to study abroad. The UK and USA have always done well in terms of perceived education quality; however, Asia is proving powerful competition offering degrees taught in English at a fraction of the overall cost. China this year aims to recruit 300,000 international students into universities, which is approximately the same as the UK – the East-West student migration may not last forever, particularly with the UK’s very strict immigration policy under the current government."

Notes for Editors

About Uniguru

Uniguru was founded in 1996. It runs websites aimed at making it simple for students to find the right choice of school and program all over the world. Currently Uniguru covers the following destination countries: the UK, Netherlands, Sweden, Ireland, Australia, USA, Singapore, Malaysia and New Zealand. The company runs websites in 21 countries and 16 languages around the world. Uniguru.co.in is the study abroad site for Indian students and is a part of Hotcourses portfolio of websites. Uniguru has been working in the Indian student recruitment market since 2007.

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