Study Abroad News & Alerts

Delhi University has released a new program called Russian studies on undergraduate level. The programme will also be called Russian honours and as opposed to the previous year, candidates will get to choose six subjects in the programme. The test for the examination will be carried out between 15th May to 31st May along with other CUET exams. The result for the same will be out on 30th June, 2024. Recently, Delhi University also announced the commencement of a new programme in Buddhist studies. All these programmes are being launched by the university in an attempt to foster an international and ever encompassing environment in the campus.

Numerous international students in Australia are facing a serious problem of housing shortage. There has been a 15% increase in the amount of rent paid by students even in shared dormitories. Due to an influx of international students, there is a massive shortage of accommodation options. Whatever bare minimum is left is available at a very high price. Currently more than 1,20,000 Indian students are studying in Australia which makes them one of the largest cohorts of international students. Other than this, the latest immigration rules have made it compulsory for international students to show a massive amount in their bank accounts before immigrating to the country. All of these situations together or making it very hard for international students to choose Australia for studying. 

The US rejected over a quarter million student visa applications in 2023. This was over 36% of the total student visa applications received by the immigration department of the US. The rejection rate for student visas is double the number of rejection rates for any other visa category. A decade ago, the denial rate was just at 15%. However, over the years, the visa rejection rate has increased because of the growing interest of international students to study in the US. Other countries like Australia, Canada, and the UK have been experiencing a similar situation. In 2023, Australia also witnessed an all-time high student visa rejection rate with 34% of the total applications being rejected. Instead of introducing stringent policies, the governments of these countries are simply rejecting candidates on various parametres. The regulations in the US are currently not extremely strict. However countries like Australia and Canada have already decided to curb international students with strict policies.

The registrations for UGC NET 2024 are most likely to begin from the first week of April. The exam will be conducted in the month of June. Students clearing the exam become eligible for the post of assistant professors and pursuing PhD from the university. Students who are able to clear JRF will also get a monthly stipend. This year it has been decided that clearing UGC NET is going to be enough for taking admission in a university for pursuing PhD. Students will not have to appear for different kinds of tests to be eligible. The test is conducted in 83 different disciplines in CBT mode. Candidates have to take two exams continuously without a break. One exam is related to the discipline and the other is a general exam that contains questions from subjects like reasoning, mathematical calculations, and general knowledge.

IIT Jammu is inviting candidates to apply for an MTech programme. Students will have to pay an application fee of Rs.300 to register themselves for the program. Students can only register themselves till 15th April, 2024. The MTech programme is being offered in a lot of specialisations like computer science, electrical engineering and mechanical engineering. Candidates in the final year of the degree can also apply for the programme but the offer will be conditional until the mark sheet of the final year is released by the subjective Institute of the candidate. New scholarship will be given to the candidate until all the necessary documents are submitted. For more information, students can check the official website of IIT Jammu.

IIM Indore is offering a five-year integrated programme in management to interested students. The programme will consist of 15 different terms which will be spread over a period of five years. Students will initially study for the foundational program for three years after which two years will be dedicated to the postgraduate studies. Students also have the opportunity to exit the program after three years of completion. It is compulsory for the applicant to have been born after 1st August, 2004 to be eligible for the programme. Candidates will be selected on the basis of an aptitude test and a personal interview carried out by the institute. The aptitude test will consist of questions from the quantitative section, reasoning, ability, and verbal ability. The fee for the program is Rs.4130 annually.

IIM Indore is offering a five-year integrated programme in management to interested students. The programme will consist of 15 different terms which will be spread over a period of five years. Students will initially study for the foundational program for three years after which two years will be dedicated to the postgraduate studies. Students also have the opportunity to exit the program after three years of completion. It is compulsory for the applicant to have been born after 1st August, 2004 to be eligible for the programme. Candidates will be selected on the basis of an aptitude test and a personal interview carried out by the institute. The aptitude test will consist of questions from the quantitative section, reasoning, ability, and verbal ability. The fee for the program is Rs.4130 annually.

The Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi has launched a new program in robotics. The programme has been designed in a way that it will provide all the necessary information and skills related to the field of robotics. This is an executive program that will last for five months and consist of 120 hours. Learners will get to study about robotics in the healthcare and management industry to streamline the whole process. The use of AI and robotics has been increasing in different industries and various robotic equipment have been deployed. Considering the growth of this sector, such programmes are being provided by various institutes in the country.

The Australian government on 23rd March, 2024 has released a series of strict rules and regulations for international students. Out of these the ones that stand the most is the limitation on the type of jobs that international students can work for on a part-time basis and that no further stay policy. The no further stay policy simply means that any international students studying in Australia cannot apply for any other Australian visa, such as permanent residency or work visa without leaving the country after the expiration of their student visa. This rule will be applied on all international students whether they are currently studying in Australia or their study visa has already expired. This will help the Australian government tackle the problem of over immigration and the ability of immigrants to use temporary visas to extend their stays. Other than a few exceptions, it will be applicable on all international students.

The UGC is planning to introduce a common undergraduate admission counselling process for CUET just like medical and engineering programmes in the country. As per sources, UGC has already formed an expert committee to contemplate over the idea and might conduct a pilot programme including five universities this year. A common counselling process will help in providing a mutual platform for all the universities and students who want to take admission in these universities. Based on their preferences and marks, students will be allotted different colleges and universities. Right now there is no clarity whether this proposal will be implemented from this year onwards or not. A common counselling process is already in place for engineering, exam, JEE mains and JEE advance as well as NEET UG and PG.

The Indian Institute of technology, Kanpur has introduced new master's degree programmes that will be offered in the fields of business, finance, climate finance, fintech, and quantitative finance. All of these programmes would be conducted in online mode and all the interested candidates can register for the same till 31st March, 2024. The registrations are being conducted for the July 2024 intake. The duration of each course will vary from 1 year to 3 years. For admissions, candidates do not have to appear for GATE. Each of the courses being offered by the institute will cater to different requirements in the market. Most of these classes will be conducted online and will require self paced learning. The overall curriculum will be worth 60 credits.

IIM Bangalore has recently introduced a new programme in the field of financial planning. The institute has collaborated with the FPSB to offer this course to students and working professionals across the country. The course is designed in a way that it will be teaching financial planning to people in the country and align with the perpetual changing requirements of the market. Also, FPSB will be granting scholarships to 5 selected students who will have all the necessary knowledge and skills to qualify for the scholarship. Both the involved institutes will be organising multiple seminars and workshops to keep students updated with networking opportunities. The aim of the programme is to foster talent among young working professionals related to financial planning on the national and international level.

The UGC has officially made an announcement that the national eligibility test scores will now be valid to walk the country to take admission in PhD programmes. This will eliminate the need for students to take multiple examinations and will save a lot of money, time and effort. This will be applicable from 2024 to 2025 session onwards. This determination has been made by a special committee from experts to streamline the process of entrance exams in the country. 

Currently the prime purpose of NET is for Junior research fellowship, eligibility and assistant professor appointment. The test is conducted twice a year, once in the month of June, and the other in the month of December. From June 2024 onwards, candidates will not be eligible for three different categories. There will be students who are eligible for the position of an assistant professor along with PhD with JRF, students who will be able to pursue PhD, but without JRF with assistant professor appointment, and students who will be able only pursue PhD.

IIT Kanpur is inviting students from different universities of the country to apply for the summer internship programme. Students pursuing a bachelors and masters degree are eligible for the internship program. The internship program is going to last for eight weeks and will tentatively begin during the second week of May. The programme will be concluded in the second week of July. The registration window for the summer internship was opened by IIT Kanpur on 18th March, 2024. Students studying from an accredited and affiliated university in India and abroad can apply for the same. The institute has provided all the details on its official website related to the shortlisting process. The shortlisting will begin in the second week of April and students will get all the results by the last week of April. This summer internship program is a part of IIT Kanpur’s Students Undergraduate Research Graduate Excellence (SURGE) programme.

CBSE has modified both the curriculum and the textbooks for classes 3 to 6. A new set of books will be released by NCERT, and it will be compulsory for all the CBSE affiliated schools to follow these textbooks. The exact syllabus for these classes is currently under development but will be released before the new session begins. The books have already been published by NCERT. CBSE has decided to focus towards classes 3rd and 6th to offer a seamless mode of transition from junior to senior classes. The CBSE board will also organise a seminar for all the schools and parents to understand what this change means. CBSE has also given a clarification that there will be no change in the books on the syllabus of other classes for this academic year.

Jamia Millia Islamia has officially started the registration process for short-term skill-based courses. The courses will be offered to students in both online and offline mode. All the students who are interested in these courses can register themselves by 20th April, 2024. The Jamia Millia University Centre for innovation and entrepreneurship will be offering these courses exclusively to the interested students. Students from other universities, drop outs, working professionals, and other people can join these courses to upgrade themselves and learn more about different disciplines like digital marketing, performance, marketing, basics of Python, data, science, basic level, audio and video editing, video and still photography and many more. The fee for these courses ranges from Rs.5000 to Rs. 15,000 depending upon the course.

NBEMS will be releasing the result of NEET MDS on 18th April, 2024. The test is conducted to get admission in the masters of dental surgery program in the top medical institutes of the country. The examination was conducted on 18th March, 2024 after much controversy and speculation. Students wanted to get the examination cancelled as it was colliding with their practical exams. Followed by a hearing with the Supreme Court, it was decided that the exam will be conducted on the same date but the practicals will be extended. Students will be able to check their result through the official website of NBEMS by putting in their enrolment number and other necessary details. Once the results are declared, the counselling process will also begin.

The registration process for CUET UG has been extended till 31st March, 2024. Students will be able to submit their applications till 9:50 PM on 31st March. The examination is all set to take place between 15th May to 31st May. This year NTA will be organising the examination in hybrid mode. In some study centres, students will have to give the examination in CBT mode whereas in other study centres. Students will be giving the examination in pen and paper mode. NTA has kept the mood of conduction, flexible to make sure that there are no centre crises at the last moment. Right now, more than 14.9 lakh students have already registered for the exam. The information related to the number of the modes of languages that will be offered to students is yet to be disclosed.

Jamia Millia Islamia has decided to postpone the entrance examinations for 2024. The revised schedule for the examination has been designed keeping in mind the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. As per the new timetable, Jamia Millia Islamia will be conducting the entrance examination on June 9th, 10th and 11th for admission in PG programmes like MA, MSc and MBA. These examinations were previously going to be organised in the month of May. The university has released an official notice regarding the same. Students can check the official website of the university to have a look at the new timetable of the examinations. Jamia Millia Islamia also considered CUET UG and PG for giving admission to students in its courses. However, for selected courses, the university also conducts its own examination.

Indira Gandhi National Open University which is one of the largest open universities in India is going to conduct its term end exam in 2024. Students can start registering themselves for the examination as the deadline is 31st March, 2024 after which students will have to pay a late examination fee. The tentative date sheet for the exam has already been released by the university. Students can access the hall tickets in the month of May. Tentatively the examination will begin on 7th June, 2024. The final date sheet for the examination will be released within a few weeks after the university has received all the registrations.