Indians happy to be back on campus, finds Global Student Survey, 2022

London, April 29

Indian students believe the covid-19 pandemic ruined their university experience and a majority found improvement in mental health since returning to the campus for studies, according to a new study.

The ‘Global Student Survey 2022′, published by Chegg.org — the non-profit arm of education technology company Chegg — on Thursday, revealed over three-quarter (77 per cent) of Indian students say that the pandemic ruined their college or university experience, the highest of 21 countries surveyed.

Around 55 per cent of Indian students revealed that they felt their mental health has improved since starting on campus or returning after lockdown restrictions, the second highest of the countries surveyed, behind Australia (60 per cent).

“College students are finally now readjusting to campus life after experiencing the greatest disruption to education the world has ever known,” said Dan Rosensweig, President and CEO of Chegg.

“At the same time, they face profound societal challenges including widening inequality, increasing automation, and climate change. In this new global study, undergraduates were asked about their hopes, fears, and overall state of mind,” he said.

Nearly three in 10 (27 per cent) Indians say they now regret going to college or university in light of the covid-19 pandemic, which is the second highest of any country surveyed, behind Turkey (29 per cent).

Nearly two-third (62 per cent) of Indian students with a study-related loan say that their debt makes them wish they had made a different choice and around one-third (31 per cent) with a study-related loan say they don’t think they’ll ever pay it off, even as the number of Indian students with a study-related debt or loan has fallen sharply – from 27 per cent in 2021 to 22 per cent in 2022.

The findings are based on in-depth opinion polling by Yonder, formerly Populus, of over 17,000 undergraduate students aged 18-21 years across 21 countries around the world, including 1,008 students in India.