With its commitment to deliver quality transnational education, upGrad, South Asia’s largest higher edtech, in a most recent move, announces ‘Study Abroad’ program, to enable learners experience on-campus learning with renowned international universities.
The idea of this initiative draws back from a recent survey conducted by the edtech leader, wherein it was found that a lot of upGrad learners and alumni are still willing to travel and study abroad, to find employment in foreign regions. Responding to such emerging demands, but also keeping affordability in mind, as not everybody in such testing times is willing to make heavier financial commitments, upGrad has designed this unique model offering.
According to UNESCO, there were 5 million international students across the globe in 2018 and 750,000 of those happened to be from India during the pre-COVID era. These students used to spend nearly $15 Billion each year to study abroad. However, the pandemic has unwillingly forced students across the country to rethink their decision of traveling overseas. That is where the differentiation of the ‘Study Abroad’ program comes into the picture – learners can now study online this year, and by next year when there are indications of green shoots, they can move abroad.
The program is designed carefully keeping in mind the online cost for 1 year, which is 1/10th of the offline expenses, thus offering dual benefits of being cost-effective, with an added advantage of mobility. Learners under this arrangement, have a chance to study abroad and explore job opportunities in the respective region as per their choice in the coming future, at a cost significantly lesser than what they would have to pay for a fully on-campus foreign course.
With a target to achieve 50,000 learners by 2026, upGrad has already kicked off 2 such programs; the first being the pathway to Australian Universities where renowned Australian universities like the James Cook University, Brisbane Campus are participating, along with the second program, Master’s Degree in Data Science wherein learners will receive dual Accreditation from IIIT Bangalore and the International University of Applied Sciences, Germany. The newly introduced program is not only applicable for learners in India, and geographies like the Middle East, Southeast Asia, etc. it will also allow them to pursue the program in two parts: 1-year online in India or from their respective countries, followed by an opportunity to complete their course on-campus abroad in the subsequent year/s.
Additionally, with the right leadership at the helm of this initiative, upGrad has recently appointed Ankur Dhawan as the President of the Study Abroad program. Ankur comes with a rich knowledge & background in building new businesses and will now be bringing his lucrative experience of 15 years to flourish upGrad’s new initiative.
Talking about the same, Arjun Mohan, CEO India, upGrad, said, “We have always aimed at providing quality transnational education to our learners who are currently residing across geographies. With the covid-situation impacting international students’ mobility dramatically, we have now come up with a sustainable solution of ‘Study Abroad’ program, where the learner spends this year studying online and moves abroad the next year to gain their global exposure or build a career there. With this one-of-a-kind program arrangement & Ankur’s joining us, we look forward to expanding the bachelor’s market for studying abroad by making it affordable and relevant to the current market situation.”
“This move also reiterates our ambition of becoming a global higher edtech leader who offers world-class, outcome-oriented content pedagogy to every learner who aims at building a tangible career for themselves. In the coming months, we look at closing 20 university tie-ups,” added Mohan.
Both programs are in-build with personalised mentorship from upGrad to offer a continuous handholding throughout the program modules and includes an end-to-end counselling/visa support to make the entire process and learning experience hassle-free for its learners. On the successful completion of the on-campus program in the second year, learners can also apply for a Post-Study-Work visa in the destination country and build a career there.
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