Engineering for NRIs in India or Abroad?
Engineering for NRIs in India or Abroad?
NRI students and parents often gets confused in making a decision between selecting Indian Colleges under NRI Quota (or Gulf Quota) or the US/Canadian/European Universities for Engineering. Traditionally, many NRI Students from UAE, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain move to Indian engineering colleges for obvious reasons.
If you are looking for differences among those universities & the reason behind various NRI Students choosing Indian Colleges under certain quota, you are just at the right page.
It’s a matter of curiosity and concern for all NRIs Students and parents about where the students should pursue their Bachelor’s degree from. Indian Universities or American/Canadian/European Universities?
Note: According to the latest update from DASA, from 2022 onwards, JEE Scores will be made mandatory for NRI/PIO/OCI Students to be eligible for DASA & CIWG Schemes. Hence, 2020 will be the last year when SAT 2 scores will be considered for DASA/CIWG Scheme.
So now, we will walk you through some pros and cons of both the Indian Universities and Western Universities. Let us elucidate every aspect in detail.
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Case 1 - Indian NRI students (Middle East) moving for Indian Colleges
Pros:
1. NRI Quota : Being an NRI student you are entitled to get reserved seats in premium engineering colleges in India through Gulf Quota (For NRIs in Middle East) & NRI Quota. The Gulf Quota is popularly known as CIWG Scheme (a subset of DASA Scheme). Please note that this quota is only valid for NITs, IITs and other Centrally Funded Technical Institutions (CFTIs) of India. In no case, NRI students are eligible any quota in IITs of India.
2. Cost Effective : Most of the Gulf NRI students who apply through CIWG Quota for engineering colleges in India end up paying a substantially lower fee approx (6 Lakh) for 4 year degree. However, students who apply through DASA Quota may end up paying approx 22 Lakh Indian rupees for 4 year degree in NITs, IIITs CFIs in India. Click here to know more about the MHRD governed DASA & CIWG Schemes.
3. Competition : For NRI Students, the good news is that, JEE Mains can help them apply for admission under DASA Scheme for the academic year 2021-22. Here is the reason behind it: From 2021 onwards, JEE Mains Rank have been made mandatory for DASA/CIWG Schemes for NRIs/PIOs. Hence, 2020 will be the last year when SAT 2 scores will be considered for DASA/CIWG Scheme.
For the academic session 2020-21, NRIs students will still be writing SAT 2 Subject Test (Maths level 2, Physics, Chemistry) for admission in NIT and CFIs in India under DASA Scheme. Please note that students who wish to go to IITs, still have to write JEE Advanced examinations. Students who wish to go for NITs and CFIs can simply write JEE Mains / SAT Subject Test (SAT 2).
4. Quality Education : Indian engineering education is renowned and accepted globally & Getting the same education abroad will cost you 15-20 times more.
Cons :
1. No Common Test : NRI Quota is only applicable for NITs, IIITs and CFIs. It is not valid for IITs in India. So, NRI Students who are planning for IITs must preparing for JEE Advanced Exams instead of focusing on NRI quota / DASA or CIWG Scheme.
2. Infrastructure : Infrastructure of Indian Engineering Colleges may not look good to NRI students, having spent most of the time abroad. But, education quality is not compromised having said that. So, it is a matter of adaptation.
3. Seats/Competition : Looking at the strength of NRI students worldwide and aspiring students in India, it gets tougher to get into IITs unless you are very determined. It is comparatively easier to get into NITs, IIITs and CFIs by writing JEE Mains or SAT 2 Tests, but the total seats available for NRIs in NITs and CFIs are approx 2400 seats altogether making the competition not that easy in real life.
Case 2 - Indian NRI students (Middle East) moving abroad
Pros :
1. Quality Education : There is no doubt that these colleges are top notch and are acclaimed all over the world. Quality of education is excellent here.
2. Courses : Most of the engineering courses which are popular these days like Mechatronics, Aerospace etc. are very much practised in these universities. Such specializations are not common to find in every Indian University as of now.
3. Combined Degree : Most of the universities have integrated courses where students can complete their Bachelor's and Master together in 4 to 5 years. This is an added advantage.
Cons:
1. Fee : Fees in US universities (Other Universities Abroad) are much higher compared to the Indian Universities.
2. Expenses : Studying abroad becomes expensive altogether, other than university fees other expenses are to be met like - Hostel, Travel, Food, Books and others. These combined together increases the overall expenses by many folds.
3. Settlement : It is a wise decision for those students who wish to stay in US/UK/Canada after their Graduation. There is no point in getting higher education abroad and then coming back to India or Gulf for your final settlement. For specific courses, this decision can be taken & is appreciated.
Engineering Abroad for NRI vs. Engineering in India for NRI
Let’s dig into the Indian Colleges first :
Most Indian engineering colleges offer NRI Quota (~15%) particularly for the NRI Students seeking to pursue Bachelor’s (UG Courses) from the renowned colleges of India like NITs, CFIs, College of Engineering, Pune, Institute of Chemical Technology, Xavier Institute of Engineering, Thadomal Shahani College of Engineering (TSEC), NMIMS Mukesh Patel etc.
Conclusion : Joining these highly prestigious colleges will cost you around 40000 USD.
But we also walk you through the NRI quota option for NRI students. This quota is provided under DASA Scheme and it is for NRIs all over the world. DASA scheme is a scheme launched by MHRD, India and It has been in-effective since 2001. Selected NRI students (selection based on SAT 2 or JEE Rank) can get admissions into top NITs & CFIs of India under this quota. Especially, the NRIs from Gulf Countries can utilize & pay much less fees under the CIWG Scheme (a subset of DASA Scheme).
Let’s dig into the American/European/Canadian Colleges now
It sounds thrilling and exciting to pursue graduation from one of the prestigious American colleges like Harvard University, Stanford University, Dartmouth University, Mississippi Institute of Technology (MIT), Brown University etc. After pursuing graduation from such colleges, you’ll become innovative and can have your dream job anywhere around the world.
The single con/demerit here is the tuition fee under graduation (UG) programs. It costs you deadly. The average fee for an undergraduate International Student would be over $60000.
Conclusion: Pursuing graduation by investing 60000 USD is quite expensive. Admission in the Western Colleges is suggested only if you can bear such concrete tuition fees.
About DASA
DASA scheme is for the NRI Students whose motto is to hold a Bachelor’s degree (UG Courses) in Engineering / Architectural stream from the prospective colleges like NITs, IIITs and SPAs of India. Along with the Non-Resident Indians (NRIs), Persons of Indian Origin (PIO), Oversea Citizens of India (OCI) and Foreign Nationals (FNs) are also eligible to apply for the DASA scheme.
Make yourself familiar with the DASA 2019 scheme here. This would cost you around 35000 USD to finish your 4-year Bachelor’s degree.
About Gulf Quota (CIWG)
There’s a special quota, named CIWG Quota, for Gulf based NRIs. This Gulf Quota is a part of DASA Scheme. The best part of applying under Gulf quota is that it saves you a ton of money. It would cost around 5.5 Lakh INR to complete your entire UG engineering program.
Conclusion: Don’t even think to leave this opportunity if you’re a Gulf based NRI.
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