Rising costs, visa restrictions and better regional choices drive a shift towards domestic undergraduate study before going abroad
3-MIN READ3-MIN ListenBiman MukherjiPublished: 7:00pm, 26 Aug 2026For years, South Asian students – particularly from India – treated an overseas undergraduate degree as the default springboard to an international career.That assumption is now changing.
The shift represents a recalibration rather than a retreat from global ambitions: undergraduate study at home or within Asia, followed by postgraduate study abroad.
According to the report, 53 per cent of South Asian respondents now prefer remaining in their home countries for undergraduate studies before pursuing postgraduate degrees abroad.
