Students are building a portfolio of options including TNE and local alternatives

It is clear that the number of students applying to more destination countries, and to more institutions within each destination has hit a new normal post the COVID-19 pandemic. This hedging behaviour was logical when border closures were intermittent and is logical today as visa policy settings remain volatile.

It is also clear that this risk management approach is pushing students to apply to more destination countries outside of the Big Four.

Europe holds, Singapore climbs, the UAE slips

The policy headwinds being endured by the Big Four collective have caused students to consider options at home and in other destination countries. The Navitas Agent Perception Survey asks agents to respond to a variety of questions covering every country where we operate a campus with a university partner including Germany, the Netherlands, UAE and Singapore.

In response to the question on whether there has been more interest in each destination, agents report that Europe remains consistently attractive, and interest in Singapore continues to grow. However, the war in the Middle East has resulted in an understandable drop in interest in the UAE.

Affordability pressures and concerns about achieving a commensurate return on investment mean that applicants, “are more likely to have a back-up plan to study in their home country” and “are more likely to give up on their plans to study abroad due to lack of affordability” (72 per cent and 68 per cent agreement from agents respectively).

Staying home is looking better and better

Home country alternatives are increasingly attractive, not only because of what is happening across the Big Four destinations. In particular, as local universities and transnational offerings have continued to improve, the quality gap between studying at home and studying abroad has narrowed.

Almost half of education agents agree that “Local universities in my country now provide a university education comparable to studying overseas” and that “Foreign university branch campuses in my country offer comparable academic quality to studying.”

When asked about the most important factors for students choosing to stay in their home country, affordability was again the primary concern. Family and personal commitments were also highly cited, and difficulty in obtaining a visa for overseas study was the third most cited rationale.