78% of wealthy Indians want to send kids abroad for education: Survey

Survey shows wealthy Indians prioritize overseas education for children, willing to sacrifice retirement savings for quality education abroad.

Over three-fourth of wealthy Indians have sent or are planning to send their kids overseas for education, according to a survey.

The survey of 1,456 Indians, having investable surplus between ₹84 lakh ($100,000) and nearly ₹17 crore ($2 million), conducted in March found the strong urge for overseas education with 78 per cent of the respondents saying they are keen on a foreign education for their children.

Investable survey is the amount set aside for investment from overall net worth. The Global Quality of Life 2024 survey commissioned by foreign lender HSBC said the United States is top overseas destination for Indians, followed by the United Kingdom, Canada. Australia and Singapore.

So strong is the urge for foreign education for the child that the parents are willing to suffer financial strains as well, the survey said, pointing out that the investment in education may come at the sacrifice of retirement savings.

The expected or actual annual cost of overseas education works out at USD 62,364, and may use up to 64 per cent of parents' retirement savings.

Parents resort to dipping into general savings, taking loans and selling assets to fund the overseas education, the survey said.

The quality of overseas education tops the list of primary reason for considering the overseas education, followed closely by the possibility to specialise in an area, the survey said.