With Indian Rupee on a free fall against the US dollar, the question that is foremost in every Indian student planning to study abroad is “How do I survive this and fulfill my study abroad dream”? The rupee almost touched 69 to a dollar and has impacted students going abroad on a large scale. Uniguru representative Antony Chacko caught up with leading study abroad counselors, Biruda Virkud (iGrad Global), Gigeo Sakkaryas (IMTP, Chennai) and Richard Lasrado (My Education Abroad) to discuss this situation and how students can overcome it..

Experts assess the situation…

Biruda agrees with the common sentiment that the situation is a bit dicey for students planning to study abroad. Naturally students need to shell out more for course fee and day to day living. However she feels there are ways to overcome this obstacle.

Gigeo talks about two types of reactions - students who are already living abroad are very happy as they are sending a lot of money back home and are able to pay out their education loans quickly; on the other side, loan applications of prospective students are rejected purely because these have gone beyond the 20 lakhs ceiling. The worst affected are those who have already started their courses and who have committed to a study abroad plan. Luckily the Australian dollar has not appreciated much so students planning to study in Australia are spared. Most students are going ahead with their study abroad plans though hoping that the rupee will stabilise around the 65 mark.

How can you get over this…

Having discussed the rather bleak situation, the experts assure that there are some simple lifestyle changes that can help student save costs. These include:
• Learn basic life skills such as cooking your own meal and cycling to the campus
• Share accommodation with your friends and classmates.
• Stay with your relatives as most Indian students have some family members staying abroad
• Take up part-time work

Get help from your institutions

Richard pointed out that students can also explore funding/cost saving options offered by the institutions. Scholarships top the list if you are really good at academics. Students can also look at part fee payment options.

Education loans – be creative

With Indian public sectors banks having a ceiling of 20 lakhs for education loans, the falling rupee has hit education loan options quite badly. Our experts have a few suggestions to offer:
• Students can approach their relatives living abroad to sponsor an education loan for them. A loan in USD will be easy to pay out in these troubled times.
• Gigeo feels generally dollar value goes up in September and comes down in January so it is advisable to save up dollars during this period. Though this approach involves some risks it is worth trying.
• Gold mortgage, loan against property, top-up loans (if private banks are financing study costs) and approaching organizations like Credila which do not have defined upper limits for education loans are some other viable options .

Explore new study destinations

With rupee depreciating at 20% against USD, 18% against SGD, and 17%, 16% and 13% against GBP , CAD and AUD respectively, our panelists suggest that Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, Netherland and Germany would turn out to be cost-effective study destinations. These countries also offer post study visa which will help students send that extra money back home but admissions are highly competitive in these countries.
What you should never do….

Desperate though the situation is, there is one bit of advice that all our expert want to reiterate – never do anything illegal like working off campus or working extra hours than allowed. All of our experts agree that out of desperation students do tend to step out of the legal boundaries, putting their studies and security at stake, which is not advisable at all.

Think positive

As with every other challenge, there is a positive side to falling rupee and rising dollar – if you have just completed your education and got an offer, you can settle your loans faster and also save money for future investments.
Whether the rupee value increases or stabilizes gradually, the one piece of advice will be “believe in yourself” says Gigeo. Our panelists are confident that as long as the student stay focused, has chosen the right university, right course, the effort will bear fruit.

You can watch the entire video conversation on Uniguru

About the company

Uniguru (http://www.uniguru.co.in) is a part of Hotcourses, a company that maintains a portfolio of websites, English and translated, which feature useful information for students who aspire to go abroad to study. Uniguru caters to Indian and South Asian students' need for reliable information and helps them make informed choices from the range of study options available to them.