New Delhi, May 16 : Indian students are widening their study-abroad choices and looking more closely at destinations and courses that can offer stronger career outcomes, according to the latest data released by Leap Scholar, South Asia’s largest AI-powered study-abroad ecosystem.
The data points to a clear shift in how students are planning global education. Instead of looking only at legacy destinations or broad master’s programmes, students are increasingly evaluating where a degree can lead to better jobs, stronger industry exposure, and long-term career growth.
Singapore appeared in 26.6% of student conversations, making it the second-most discussed destination after the UK. The trend indicates that Singapore is gaining serious consideration among Indian students who are exploring study-abroad options beyond the most conventional markets.
Interest is also widening across Europe. Countries beyond the UK and Germany, including the Netherlands, Finland, Sweden, and Denmark, appeared in 17.6% of conversations. This suggests that Indian students are considering a broader set of European destinations as they compare affordability, employability, post-study opportunities, and long-term value.
At the course level, Data Science and AI appeared in 15.4% of conversations, making it the strongest course-led trend in the data. This reflects a larger move towards career-linked education choices, with students aligning destination decisions with future-facing fields and job-market demand.
As more students explore non-traditional destinations and specialised courses, the need for reliable guidance around admissions, costs, job prospects, and post-study pathways is becoming increasingly important.
Methodology
This trend report is based on anonymised lead-generation and student-interest data from Leap’s internal database. The insights have been drawn from a relevant subset of students within Leap’s overall database of 1.1 million+ students, filtered basis the specific geography, time period, destination interest, course preference, and student behaviour patterns analysed for this report.
The data has been reviewed to identify directional shifts in study-abroad intent, emerging destination preferences, course-level demand, and student decision-making trends. The report is intended to provide a timely view of how Indian students are evaluating global education opportunities and the factors shaping their choices.