Make an informed choice

Abhinav Lohia

Advertisement

The Indian educational system has been known to churn out intellectuals who have redefined the way the world looks at science, mathematics, astronomy, technology and much more. Despite the calibre of the Indian mind, the educational infrastructure in the country has not evolved with time to nurture its growing inquisitiveness. The Indian curriculum is extremely structured and is designed to split strata of students into three fields specifically – Science, Commerce and Arts. Students often cannot break boundaries of the set courses to explore their interests while on an Indian curriculum.

However, schools abroad have been known to adopt a more liberal outlook towards education and allows students to pick and choose their major and minor courses as they deem fit. Therefore, over the past two decades students from across the country have increasingly sought to move overseas to pursue higher education.

Foreign students often find themselves at a disadvantage in terms of available opportunities and thus dabble with the option that would offer maximum security for building a future. Although most individuals have been attracted to the growth prospects in the United States, there is also a new wave of students who believe Canada to be a promising destination.

There is a plethora of reasons that drive a student’s interests in a destination.

Financial aid

One key aspect of this decision-making process is evaluating the type of schools, courses, and scholarship / financing opportunities.

With more than 5,000 universities scattered across the country, the US is home to some of the well-recognised Ivy league schools and state universities such as Harvard, Stanford, Yale, Brown, NYU, Columbia, MIT and more.

Despite being competitive in nature, schools in the US offer both need-based and merit-based scholarships to students from across the globe. 12 American universities rank among the Top 20 universities around the world based on QS rankings for 2019.

On the other hand, Canada houses University of Toronto, University of British Columbia, and McGill University that are recognised among the top 100 universities worldwide.

Although a student friendly location, Canada reserves most of its financial aid for its citizens. This could also be because the United States is home to a larger number of schools and can accept a higher number of foreign nationals.

Job opportunities

When considering job opportunities, Canada usually gets attention owing to an easy visa acquisition process. In Canada, graduates of certain degrees can apply for a Post-Graduation Work Permit within 180 days of the university declaring the final result. This is valid for a period of three years and also qualifies the professional to apply for permanent residency in Canada.

For the US, there are alternatives available when one opts to study and work in the country; an F1 visa – permits a student to stay for an additional 12 months, after the tenure of his educational course and undergo practical training.

M1 visa is another post-study visa option that is valid for one year and is extendable to three years. This allows a student to work in the US for 6 months in order to attain practical experience.

Alternatively, if someone is looking for permanent residency in the US, they can apply for Green Card.

A one-time investment in the EB5 investor visa programme allows an individual along with their spouse and two unmarried children under the age of 21 to receive a green card post fulfilment of the necessary criteria. Having a green card also opens up the doors to much greater job possibilities as an EB5 investor has the capacity to start a new business, move from one city to the other without dependency on employers, apply for government-sponsored financial aid, which can cause a reduction in the cost of higher education and much more.

Owing to the fact that the United States is a larger country and resides a denser population along with a much larger corporate base, students usually prefer to relocate to the US even after completing education and working for a few years in Canada.

Besides this, the unemployment rate in the US is generally lower than that in Canada.

In the US, high-skill profile jobs like management, software engineer, finance and advertising among others are what employers look for and in Canada nurse practitioner, programme analyst, teacher, pharmacist, construction manager etc are some of the top jobs.

Both US and Canada are the leading players when it comes to providing employment. However, the average salary of an MS student per year in the US is comparatively more than the average salary in Canada.

Thus, it is safe to say that even if the required financial investment to move to Canada is comparatively lesser, the US offers a higher level of job security coupled with better living standards.

Living standards

A primary reason for aspirants to move abroad, is the aspiration for a better lifestyle. However, cultural differences, familial bonds, environment are also key contributors towards making an immigrant’s life comfortable in a foreign land.

The US offers a wide range of climates basis which an individual can choose to stay in the location of their choice. People can enjoy the cold climate in Alaska, tropical climate in South Florida and Hawaii and states like California and Florida are warm and dry, with the infrequent rains.

Whereas, Canada is known for its snow-capped mountains and temperature that can be extremely low accompanied by heavy snowfalls.

Some reports also showcase that the tax one pays in Canada is higher than that in the US.

Opting for a course, university and country can be one of the most crucial decisions. Barring a few differences on the lines of cost, climate and choices, both countries excel in the sphere of education and one can choose them basis their goals and monetary allowance.

 The writer is Director South Asia and the Middle East, CanAm Investor Services