Recent research has revealed that the number of students worldwide interested in attending face-to-face courses has fallen this year compared to previous years.
The Emerging Futures 4 survey, conducted between 19 July and 21 August 2023 by IDP Connect, a higher education enrolment company, found that of the 10,000 students who took part in the study, 71 per cent preferred face-to-face study at an overseas campus.
By contrast, in August 2021, the proportion of students who preferred face-to-face teaching at an overseas campus was 81 per cent, reports Erudera.com.
According to the findings, the proportion of students who want to start their studies online in their home country and complete them at another institution abroad remained almost the same between 2021 (18 per cent) and this year (17 per cent).
Similarly, there has been a slight change in the number of students who say they want to study entirely online, from 10 per cent in 2021 to 11 per cent in 2023.
In addition, the results of the study showed that students still prefer to move to another country after graduating from universities in their home country, whether for work or for other reasons.
When asked about the main considerations for obtaining an international qualification in their country, students cited lower tuition fees at home universities compared to those abroad, the ability to migrate using their international degree, access to post-study work rights after graduation, and more.
This year’s survey also found that the number of students who would prefer to study at a local campus in their home country has risen from just 10 per cent in 2021 to 17 per cent in 2023.
Another study conducted earlier this year found that many students prefer to study fully online or in blended or hybrid courses.
The Time for Class 2023 survey, published in June this year by consultancy Tyton Partners, found that 69 per cent of students preferred the above options, while the remaining 31 per cent said they would opt for face-to-face teaching.
The year 2020 saw an increase in the number of online students enrolling in traditional higher education institutions, driven by the shift to online courses in response to the lockdown measures introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Online learning is likely to continue, with 47 per cent of administrators intending to invest more money in such programmes, according to BestColleges research. Half of administrators said their spending would remain the same, while only 3 per cent said they might allocate less budget to online learning.
In 2021, 60 percent of college students in the United States will have taken at least one online course, down from 76 percent the year before.
