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In the past, when students did a university degree, they tended to study in their own country. Nowadays, they have more opportunity to study aboard.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of this development?

Many students used to prefer their own country for doing a university degree; however, today they opt to study abroad. While learning a new language and doing specialization in a particular course are its main benefits, some of its drawbacks should also be considered.

On the one hand, studying abroad provide many benefits to students. First, they learn a new language so that they can communicate in a local language in their preferred country. This is because their native language is different from the local language there. This helps them later in their career when they look for jobs in the foreign country after completing their education. Most Chinese, for example, learn German before going to Germany for tertiary education since Chinese language is not spoken in that country. Second, students can specialize in the field which is not available in their own country that is crucial for their education. In other words, they go overseas to gain specialized skills instead of leaving their education due to lack of expertise in their own country. For instance, many people from Japan go to the USA for doing masters in the digital marketing.

On the other hand, studying overseas bring some drawbacks for the people. One possible problem is the higher living cost in foreign countries. When they study in their countries, people live with their families and do not pay utilities bills and rent expenses. However, they rent a separate house and pay for all the needed expenses which increases their living cost significantly. Another issue is most students suffer from loneliness when they go abroad. They feel lonely because they are required to live without their family members in a different country which increases their stress. Take the Cambridge University for example. Around 10% of the students, doing bachelor’s in science, returned to their home countries in 2017 as they were suffering from loneliness and higher living expenses.

In conclusion, although loneliness and exorbitant living cost are the primary disadvantages for students who go to foreign countries for tertiary education, its benefits should also be taken into account.