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> *[www.buyusa.gov/studyusa](http://www.buyusa.gov/studyusa)*

###### HELPING YOU EDUCATE THE WORLD

Education and training is our county's 5^th^ largest services export,
bringing over \$13 billion in annual revenue to the United States as
well as enormous benefits of cultural and international understanding
that are impossible to quantify. U.S. Department of Commerce's Export
Assistance Centers around the country work to help expand exports of
U.S. products and services. This newsletter is a free service provided
to U.S. educational institutions interested in expanding their
international marketing and student recruitment.

###### COUNTRY FEATURE: INDIA

Open and Distance Education has come to stay as an accepted form of
education throughout the world. More than 70 countries are offering
educational programs through Open and Distance Learning today. In India,
at present 72 Universities are offering distance education programs,
catering to more than 700,000 students annually. It is expected that
this growth would outnumber the formal system itself in the near future.
The existing market for open and distance education reveals the
following features:

· The number of suppliers of the distance education programs is quite
large.

· The consumers of distance education program are highly heterogeneous
with varied needs and requirements.

· There is acute competition among the Distance Education Institutes in
attracting students.

· This is a 'buyer's market' and consequently the distance education
learners have wide choice in choosing a particular Distance Education
Institute and program.

All these would mean that unless the Distance Education Institutes are
sensitive to the requirements of the learners and their marketing
strategies are 'learner-oriented', it would be difficult for them to
survive the competition from within the country and abroad. The market
opportunity for distance learning is vast. Technology is fast changing
the face of distance education worldwide. Tools like e-learning and
video conferencing are bridging distances and are increasingly being
used to build virtual classrooms to add value to distance learning
programs. The Indian e-Learning market is estimated at \$18-20 million,
with an estimated \$40 million in terms of capital equipment
requirements (such as video/web/tele-conferencing equipment.)

In India, there are about 70 distance teaching units called
Correspondence/Distance Education Departments located within
conventional universities, nine State Open Universities and one National
Open University (AIU Handbook 2001). Besides these institutions, private
institutions and television companies (e.g. ZEB programs by Zee TV, and
management programs offered by Jain TV, Sun TV and others) offer
distance-teaching programs. Roughly about 20% of the student population
at the higher education level has enrolled for the
correspondence/distance/open learning systems in India.

The World Bank is working with its partner-government agencies;
foundations and private companies to create a Global Distance Learning
Network. This independently operated network will provide opportunities
for students to participate in programs, seminars, and discussion via
distance learning centers linked by satellite networks.

**Market Data**

The distance education system has come to stay as an accepted form of
education and has been gaining wide spread popularity in recent years.
This is evident from the fact that more than 70 countries are offering
educational programs through distance education all over the world
today. The distance education has made it possible for those in
inaccessible areas, the dropouts, and those who want re-entry into
education, and the economically weaker sections to avail of educational
opportunities. It is a particular boon for women in India,

since parents are often unwilling to send them beyond their immediate
locale for education.

At present there are 10 Open Universities in India. Further, among 229
conventional Universities, 62 are dual mode Universities offering
education both under regular and distance education modes. Distance
education now caters to over 700,000 students annually. It is expected
that this growth would outnumber the formal system of education in the
near future. Thus there is a vast potential market for distance
education.

There are as many as 72 Universities competing with each other to enroll
students for their distance education programs. It is partly due to the
fact that almost all the Universities greatly depend on distance
education programs to generate their financial resources. India is a
home for education. There are over 300 Universities and 45,000 Colleges
of various types in the country. Each of these institutions is
accredited; the Universities, for example are accredited to University
Grants Commission. Colleges are generally accredited by prominent bodies
/ regulatory authority that are supported by the Government of India,
respective State Governments or by Societies.

**Best Prospects**

There are several areas in education that have good prospects. Listed
below are some areas where U.S. educational providers can take advantage
of: Bridging programs for Indian students wanting to pursue a U.S.
degree. These bridging programs offer tremendous opportunities as
pursuing United States degrees require an additional year of study by
Indian students. The existing educational structure of 12 years of
schooling and 3 years of college falls short of about 100-120 credits
required to enter a Master's program in the United States; Management
and technical programs to update skills for working adults; examples
being in the travel and tourism area;

On-line (web-based) education jointly offered through contact classes by
Indian companies/U.S. educational programs.

**Summary**

Distance Learning is an emerging industry that utilizes high technology
to provide and administer corporate training, higher education, and K-12
education. Its rapid growth is propelled by the technology, Internet and
the enormous opportunity embedded in global education. Distance learning
is in the early stages of an extended upswing and its growth is expected
to be significant for years to come. We believe that e Learning across
the corporate training, higher education, and K-12 sectors can generate
compound annual growth rates of 20%-60% for the foreseeable future.
After food, it is education that is posed as the second greatest
challenge for modern India. The recent Indian budget (2005-2006) has
proposed allocating \$4.075 billion for education. Even with huge
amounts being expended, funds are inadequate to cater to the educational
needs of the nearly 1.2 billion people living in India. Hence, on the
one hand we have some of the most outstanding men in fields such as
literature, software technology, engineering, management, medical,
biotechnology et al; on the other India has some of the most illiterates
people, mostly from the rural India.

Although there are several U.S. Universities offering programs in India,
this sector is yet to be fully exploited. Several U.S. universities such
as Excelsior College, Western Michigan University, etc., offer twinning
programs, however, this is small in comparison with the potential that
exists, especially so with the new technologies on hand. With the
Internet spread (currently there are more than 40 million users) Online
(web-based) education is catching on. There are several Indian
universities who are now exploiting this medium to cover the breadth and
depth of this potential. The U.S. universities offering "online" courses
should take a closer look at this medium to exploit this opportunity
that is potentially valued at approximately \$1-5 billion in revenues.

[]{.mark}

*The above is an excerpt from a report prepared in 2006 by the U.S.
Commercial Service in India.*

###### PROMOTIONAL EVENTS

*The U.S. Department of Commerce develops and/or supports promotional
fairs abroad at which U.S. educational institutions can recruit
international students and meet with educational multipliers, schools
and agents. Events include trade missions, promotional fairs and
educational seminars. Below is a list of our upcoming programs.*

-   **September 30, 2007:** Council of International Schools College Day
    Fair / **France**

This fall we will participate again in the Council of International
Schools College Day Fair the 30 ^th^ of September at the Hotel Marriot,
Rive Gauche in Paris. This is a great event to meet bi-national,
bilingual and other students interested in studying in the US, most at
the Undergraduate level and others for graduate work. Many alumni attend
this fair; allowing a wide variety of universities to be represented and
gives students the unique experience to see what alumni do after their
undergraduate studies in the States. (For further information:
[www.cois.org](http://www.cois.org/))

-   **September 30 & October 1, 2007:** U.S. Embassy Education Fair 2007
    **/Ottawa, Canada**

The U.S. Commercial Service is hosting the second edition of the U.S.
Embassy Education Fair**,** in Ottawa, Canada on September 30 & October
1, 2007.  This two-day education event will bring representatives from
American leading post-secondary institutions from across the United
States showcasing a variety of programs including Education,
Engineering, Fine Arts, Health Sciences, International Relations, I.T.,
Law School, M.B.A., Psychology, Social Science and much more. If you are
an undergraduate or graduate student, high school and academic
counselor, teacher, parent, high school student, ESL/FLS student, member
of the Diplomatic Community, or an organization engaged in corporate
training, we strongly encourage you to visit the U.S. Embassy Education
Fair. For more information to exhibit or attend the events please
contact: Luz Betancur, Project Manager, Tel. 613-688-5216, email:
<luz.betancur@mail.doc.gov>

-   **October 10 -- 14, 2007:** OCSC International Education Fair /
    **Thailand**

The Education and Training Export Consortium, (ETEC) will host the 4^th^
annual OCSC Fair in Thailand and related ETEC support events in Vietnam
October 10-14, 2007. Both events are excellent opportunities for your
schools to participate in. OCSC International Education Fair (events
from October 12-14, 2007). The Thai Government's Office of Civil Service
Commission (OCSC) International Education Fair is the largest
international education expo in Southeast Asia attracting over 30,000
attendees and providing the opportunity to meet with Thai Scholars (top
students granted study abroad scholarships from various Thai
ministries). For more information, please visit our website about the
Southeast Asia market and online registration form:
[http://educationsocal.com]{.underline}

-   **October 15 -- 18, 2007:** ISN & Department of Commerce
    Turkey/Israel Fair 2007 / **Turkey and Israel**

The U.S. Commercial Service at the American Embassy in Israel organizes
\"Study USA\" fairs every June, October and January in conjunction with
the Israel Studies Exhibition organizers. Each fair attracts a captive
audience of 28,000 prospective students and is considered the biggest
event of its type in the region! Turkish students, counselors and
education institutions have a very positive view of U.S. educational
programs. Turkish businesses have a tendency to favor employees who have
completed their higher education in the United States. For more
information about the fairs in these markets, please visit the following
website:

[http://www.isnexpo.com/turkey-israel/Turkey-Israel-Mission.pdf]{.underline}

-   **October 20, 2007:** Studyrama International Studies and Career
    Fair / **France**

> The second event is the Studyrama International Studies and Career
> Fair held Saturday the 20 ^th^ of October at the very famous Cité
> Universitaire, or international student campus. While this is a very
> large and well visited event in France, it has not been very well
> known by US universities and officials, we therefore do our best to
> represent every university, but we do highly recommend that you
> consider attending/participating in the future given the fact that it
> caters to all ages and is a very targeted and knowledgeable audience.
> For further information:
> [www.studyrama.com](http://www.studyrama.com/)

###### SPECIAL OFFER -- OUTREACH TO INDIA AND CHINA 

**Electronic Education Fair Initiative Featured in *Newsweek***: We are
very pleased that the Electronic Education Fair initiative, a
partnership between the U.S. Department of Commerce and the U.S.
Department of State, is featured in *Newsweek* as part of the Special
Report on Global Education
(<http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20216692/site/newsweek/from/ET/>).

Accredited institutions of higher education are invited to sponsor the
initiative's web landing pages for China and India. Visitors to the
landing pages will gain quicker, easier access to information about
sponsors' schools via links to their home pages.  In the last eight
months, our China TV programming reached over 180 million people and the
China landing page, www.liuxueusa.cn, has had over 600,000 visits, about
97 percent from *within* China. Commerce and State intend to announce an
extension of the August 27 deadline into September; a formal
announcement will be published soon in the *Federal Register*.

*Updated information on upcoming events can also be found at*
[www.buyusa.gov/studyusa](http://www.buyusa.gov/studyusa).

###### MORE INFORMATION

For more information on any of the programs and market research
mentioned please complete the following, check the boxes

next to newsletter items of interest and fax or e-mail this document to
the contact listed on the top of the first page.

Your Name Organization

Title E-mail address

Telephone Fax Number

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