International students in G20 during COVID-19

Why they travel? and where are they going? 

This blog is to Shed light on the international students in the top 20 economic countries (biggest GDP) in the world, looking at the impact of COVID-19 on those students.

As per UNESCO and World Bank figures of 2019, the 20 Biggest GDP countries have more than 13900 universities covering around 7000 different programs and have 800 out of 1000 of the world’s top-ranked universities. Those countries are also hosting most international students worldwide as 5.15 M out of 5.72 M international students in 2019 were studying in G20 countries.

At the same time, the above countries are anticipating in 70% of COVID-19 cases around the world as per 23 Dec 2020 numbers,

to Illustrate the impact of COVID-19, we will enlighten the status of the international student in those countries in aspect of numbers of international students in each country, number of universities, top-ranking universities, percentage of international students against local students in the country, the average cost of studying and many other parameters

# Country COVID-19 cases GDP AS PER World Bank 2019 Population Number of Universities Number of Uni in top 1000 of THE Rank Number of Uni in top 1000 of SH Rank Number of Uni in top 1000 of EDU Rank  Number of  students in thousands   Number of international students in thousands 
1 USA 18,684,628 21,427,700 325,084,756 4298 173 206 300 21,00 1,094
2 China 86,882 14,342,903 1,421,021,791 2688 50 144 63 30,000 492
3 Japan 200,658 5,081,770 127,502,725 786 33 40 28 2,900 312
4 Germany 1,556,611 3,845,630 82,658,409 306 48 49 63 2,900 394
5 India 10,099,308 2,875,142 1,338,676,785 875 33 15 5 28,000 47
6 United Kingdom 2,110,314 2,827,113 66,727,461 150 94 65 75 2,400 485
7 France 2,490,946 2,715,518 64,842,509 620 40 30 25 1,600 295
8 Italy 1,977,370 2,001,244 60,673,701 85 49 46 34 1,800 97
9 Brazil 7,320,020 1,839,758 207,833,823 1021 13 22 35 8,200 52
10 Canada 521,509 1,736,426 36,732,095 163 29 28 31 1,300 642
11 Russia 2,933,753 1,699,877 145,530,082 741 16 11 4 2,900 334
12 South Korea 52,550 1,642,383 51,096,415 203 8 32 14 6,000 160
13 Spain 1,838,654 1,394,116 46,647,428 88 36 40 42 1,800 194
14 Australia 28,237 1,392,681 24,584,620 43 37 34 30 1,200 138
15 Mexico 1,338,426 1,258,287 124,777,324 1250 3 2 7 4,000 34
16 Indonesia 685,639 1,119,191 264,650,963 259 1 0 9 2,000 6
17 Netherlands 710,683 909,070 17,021,347 14 13 13 13 500 86
18 Saudi Arabia 361,359 792,967 33,101,179 62 7 4 1 1,700 74
19 Turkey 2,062,960 754,412 81,116,450 202 11 11 13 7,500 185
20 Switzerland 418,266 703,082 8,455,804 12 11 8 12 240 38
Total 55,478,773 4,528,735,667 13866 705 800 804 128,340 5,159

*The  number of international students  and number of universities  had been collected from different resources as some countries did not purplish officially the number of international students in the country.

Why international students travel abroad for education.?

To reasons for the international student to travel aboard for education are: –

  1. Getting citizenship, as the gap between big economy countries and the rest of the world is piling up in human rights, technology, socially and economically, the new generations are looking for granting their future through education migrant and obtain the citizenship of those countries.
  2. Programs are not available in their hometown like Aerospace Engineering, Forestry, artificial engineering, and many other programs. With around 7000 different programs in the top 20 countries, it becomes the best destination for international students.
  3. Country Program limitation, as in many countries around the world, the student can not pick the program to join as he will be allocated according to the grades he achieved in the high school diploma. Meanwhile, in the top 20 countries, the student can pick the program he wants to study.
  4. Quality education in the top 20 countries is another reason for traveling since around 800 of the top 1000 universities are in the top 20.

Which countries the best destination for international students?

As per the UNESCO and local education authorities in the Top 20 countries, the USA leads the list of the best destination for international students, with around 1.1 M international students studying in the USA by 2020. Turkey and Canada are showing a remarkable yearly increase in the last three years

#  Country   Number of International Students 
1 United State of America 1,094,000.00
2 Canada 642,000.00
3 China 492,000.00
4 United Kingdom 485,000.00
5 Germany 394,000.00
6 Russia 334,000.00
7 Japan 312,000.00
8 France 295,000.00
9 Spain 194,000.00
10 Turkey 185,000.00
 Total 4,427,000.00

How much it cost to study in the top 20 detonations? 

Screening the pricing of the education’s fees in the top 20 and excluding medicine, dentist, and pharmacy, one can notice the differences in the prices between different countries. The most expensive are in Europe and the USA.

Around Yearly fees of universities in USD

# Country Min cost in thousands of USD Max cost in thousands of USD  
1 Italy 3.00 35.00
2 Switzerland 2.00 35.00
3 United States of America 2.00 30.00
4 Australia 1.20 25.50
5 Germany 2.00 25.00
6 United Kingdom 1.70 25.00
7 Spain 2.00 25.00
8 Canada 1.00 22.50
9 France 3.00 20.50
10 China 4.00 20.00
11 Mexico 1.60 16.50
12 Netherlands 6.00 16.00
13 Japan 7.00 15.50
14 Russia 2.00 15.00
15 Turkey 2.00 14.00
16 Brazil 2.00 10.00
17 Saudi Arabia 6.00 8.00
18 South Korea 3.00 6.00
19 Indonesia 3.00 5.50
20 India 1.00 3.50

 

The COVID-19 triggered financial problems for the Universities in the top 20 countries as many universities are over-reliant on international students for fee income. Seamless, the impact was on international students as well as universities in many aspects and many countries. A pithy observation had been recorded in some countries as followsHow was the status of international students during the COVID-19?

 

Country Issues faced Data source
USA Student faced deportation as their programs are 100% on line https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-53320336
USA The pandemic has damaged the appeal of studying in the United States for some international students https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2020/07/23/coronavirus-international-students-united-states-enrollment-reputation/
USA International Students Face A Host of Problems During The Pandemic https://www.nprillinois.org/post/international-students-face-host-problems-during-pandemic#stream/0
China International students unable to return to their studies in China https://thepienews.com/news/china-international-students-frustrated-lack-support/
China Students are looked inside the campus https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/12/world/asia/china-coronavirus-students.html
China Coronavirus Forces Foreign Students in China to Choose: Stay or Go https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/12/world/asia/china-coronavirus-students.html
Japan Japan’s re-entry ban threatens scholarships, admission and graduation for foreign students https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2020/06/19/national/social-issues/japan-ban-foreign-students/
Japan Only top foreign students in Japan to receive coronavirus aid https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/only-top-foreign-students-japan-receive-coronavirus-aid
Germany 90% of International Students in Germany Say COVID-19 Crisis Affected Them Financially https://www.studying-in-germany.org/90-of-international-students-in-germany-say-covid-19-crisis-affected-them-financially/
Germany Visa application issues could stop students reaching universities https://www.dw.com/en/germany-international-student-visa-problems/a-55363148
Germany will not issue study visas if programmes have transitioned online due to COVID-19
Germany Lockdown
United Kingdom Overseas students fear losing university places https://thepienews.com/news/barriers-remain-for-international-students-trying-to-reach-uk-campuses/
United Kingdom Growing numbers of students are facing financial hardship during the lockdown https://www.theguardian.com/education/2020/may/01/its-scary-experiences-of-overseas-students-in-the-uk-lockdown
United Kingdom Lockdown
France France still faces challenges in hosting international students, with many struggling to find suitable housing. https://thepienews.com/news/class-2020-summit-france-students/
France Thousands of foreign students stranded in France because of COVID-19 https://www.africanews.com/2020/08/09/thousands-of-foreign-students-stranded-in-france-because-of-covid-19/

Other countries also faced issues as well , 

In this Blog we addressed the main destinations of international students and the impact of the pandemic on them, which might lead to decreasing on the number of international students in 2020. Universities and governments should work faster in innovating solutions for pandemic uprising issues in higher education institutes for international students.

 

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