INBOUND INTERNATIONAL STUDENT MOBILITY IN INDIA: A TIME SERIES ANALYSIS

Abstract

The recent National Education Policy of the Indian government envisions India as a favored destination for international students from other developing countries. The main purpose of this study is to forecast the number of inbound international students from India’s main source countries to ascertain prospects. This study employs an auto-regressive model analysis of the 2011-2021 UNESCO.UIS international student mobility (ISM) dataset involving four South Asian international student source countries to forecast the values from 2022 to 2027 and determine the trend. The results reveal that Nepal will continue its ascendency and stature as the main source for international students in India, followed by Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Bhutan. This study on the trends of inbound international students will provide valuable insights to the administrators and policymakers of higher education institutions for strategic planning and budgeting.