Following article about Higher Education in Australia is written by Ashish Arora.
Ashish also wrote following posts
- Why Studying Abroad is 100 Folds Better Than Studying in India
- Why You Should Work Few Years Before Studying Abroad
Well I am not here to promote education in Australia. I have some experience to share with people who are considering Australia as an option for education.
Let me give a bit information on my background currently. I have done MS in Computer Science from Australia National University(Rank #20 this year) and Rank#1 in Australia. I have past experience of around 7 years in Information Technology in India. After completing my education, I got job with CSIRO, a research organization in Australia.
Australia can be one of the most amazing and lovely destination for further studies, especially for people looking out for more options and less competition. Let us looks at benefits of studying in Australia compared to other countries especially USA.
Pros of Studying in Australia
I see the following advantages to studying in Australia.
- Immigration
- Job Certainty
- Competition
- Economy
- Skill Gap
- Global Opportunities
Immigration
Jobs usually in Canada or Australia are dependent on your permanent residency status(PR).
If you manage to get PR, it is really easy for you to get job in Canada and Australia and getting PR in these countries are not as difficult as getting Green Card in US.
Job Certainty
Once you get a permanent residency, you have full right to live in Australia or Canada.
So let us consider an example that you lose your job at certain stage in your life, still you can stay in the country to look for other job and in the meantime survive on the basis of your savings or part time job somewhere.
However, in US most of the jobs are based on H1B visa which is granted by an organization’s consent so if you lose the job, you may have to leave the country or keep looking for other company to provide you H1B visa which is a very tough situation.
Competition
I think that competition in terms of jobs in not as fierce in countries like Canada and Australia as compared to US because US is a free economy so people from all the background, ethnicity and countries comes here and work here and I have seen so many people getting job in US on the basis of their experience through service based companies like infosys, wipro etc and they never felt the need to invest so much of money on higher studies (such people increase competition for people who gained higher education and got jobs).
However, Canada and Australia have straight rules that unless you don’t have a PR or Citizenship 90% of companies don’t hire you at all.
So people doing higher education have greater chances of landing up with PR and thus jobs.
Adding to this, I would like to also add that immigrants from India have reduced after racial attacks that gives a bit less competition now.
Economy
Economies of Canada and especially Australia at this point of time is doing better than US.
Economy has a great role in you landing up high paying jobs and doing better in life further.
Skill gap
US is technology hub where you have so many jobs, educational institutes etc so it is a great idea to do a homework on the what is skill gap of profession you wish to pursue education. Some skills are in High demand in US where others are not.
I don’t know how does it work in US but in Australia it pretty much stated in MODL list on the immigration website, I am pretty sure that immigration website of Canada must have listed that too.
Please check that before deciding to go for a course in a university.
Global Opportunities
Well one of the distinguishing fact of getting educated in place like Australia or Canada is you can be eligible for more jobs globally.
Like my chances for getting job in India, US and Australia are more if I do a degree from Australia then from US,.
The reasoning is simple, you can get job in US on the basis of degree in Australia or in India but getting job in Australia and Canada on the basis of even talent and degree from US is not that great because these countries have straight rule of having PR or citizenship condition on getting jobs.
Cons of Studying in Australia
Education System
Education system in US is still topnotch in the world.
Jobs
More number of jobs because in terms of technology companies, jobs etc, US is bigger and wider market.
Education and Experience value on longer term
Education from US universities are valued more throughout the world and also many technology companies are not found elsewhere in the world like Nvidia is not in Australia but I have worked there while I was in India.
Similarly, Apple is not in India. But all these companies are in US, perhaps they started in US.
Scholarship
One of the very important disadvantage of studying in Australia is NO SCHOLARSHIP.
Please people do understand that this country is all about no scholarships.
So forget about TA, RA etc because those things are only for PHD students. Here MS students hardly get any kind of scholarships. So be prepared to pay fees for the full course.
Getting PR
Most of people has pointed out in various blogs that getting PR these days is getting really hard, as I said earlier, PR depends on individual profile and how much a person can be productive to the country.
As discussed earlier, PR is related to skill storage and skill gap, your credentials, your degree, your age, experience.
There is a point system which defines all these factors and you get more points if you have a higher degree, appropriate age, more work experience and you are into the appropriate profession required by the country. If you suffice those points system and secure more points then required you are generally granted PR.
If you have really a strong profile, you may get PR easily. if you have a weak profile, it may take time for you to get PR. Since most of the people come without experience and are very young, they do not land up with PR easily and have to struggle.
Overall, rules for PR changes every year and thus sometimes it is very hard and other times it is very easy.
Many people say that if I need to get PR I need to score IELTS 8 but again that is wrong. There are people who are getting good points on Age and Experience which can compensate for IELTS.
So this is bit debatable and hence I won’t categorize in PRO or CONS.
My reason for choosing Australia:
- Affordable Education(US turned out to be very costly in all the universities I applied).
- Lots of my relatives living in Canberra where ANU is located including people who have been living in Australia since 1984 so it is easy to get lots of advice and good tips for living and help in the country.
- ANU being one of the top ranking university located in the same city where I have my relatives that helps me in thick and thins.
- All Pros above.
Information About Studying in Australia
Australian Government has done a great job here. You can simply Google it.
Oz government has awesome information for you listed down in a website: http://www.studyinaustralia.gov.au/
Apart from this, most of student seek advice from consultants in India.
I would suggest all of them don’t go to any consultant for advice.
Best will be straight away go to IDP Education.
Remember, IDP Education, is run by Australian Government for promoting education in Australia.
If you look at business point of view, Australian Government has invested money in putting down IDP Education centers who will there to help you with any kind of information regarding Universities, Admission, Ranking, Field of Study etc. and remember all FREE OF COST so please don’t pay any consultant money for seeking advice for Australian Education.
Disclaimer: Don’t give me all that rubbish about racism and education in Australia, I am not here to defend the whole country and their education system. I am only here to help people who are interested in further education in Australia and help them make their decision. I will not reply to stupid comments neither argue people with strong negative opinion.
Hi Ashish,
A very good article on Australia! Thanks mate
Just wanted to ask that can I get a job if I do only a one year master’s course in Australia. I understand I will not get the desired points in PR but I am already scoring 65 in points based system which makes me eligible for PR. The only reason I wish to one year course is that I feel local education would have higher weightage for jobs than Indian Education. Any help in this matter will be highly appreciated!
Thanks, Dhwani.
Dhwani….golden advice to you…if you are already getting enough points for PR then simply apply for PR and wait for the results. If you are fortunate enough to secure PR, you can come here and then enrol for a course. This will have two benefits, you will have PR so you have better chances to get job and secondly, course fees charged by universities to citizens and permanent resident is less as compared to international student.
Thanks Ashish, Sounds perfect! But studying would add value right? or should I just start looking out for jobs! Thanks
Thanks Ashish, Sounds perfect! But having a local degree would add value right? or should I just start looking out for jobs! Thanks
Australian degree will surely add an advantage in securing a job in Australia especially if it is from good university. But every employer basically looks for academic marks, what courses you have taken in degree, how much prior experience you have and how this experience relates to their job requirement. If all of this is very much aligned to their job requirement, they will hire you. If you are keen in securing an Australian degree, I would suggest you to enroll yourself as a part timer and go for one year degree. Stretch this degree over a duration of 2 years. This will have multiple advantage. Firstly, you will get more time to study and work and therefore, you can perform good academically and sustain a decent lifestyle(basically survive in a very expensive country). Secondly, you can keep searching for jobs. Lastly, once you know the job market well here, you are in a better position to understand what courses or unit you should enroll yourself. Like project management, requirement elicitation etc.
Hello All,
It was really a great post regarding the opportunities outside the US. But the above post and the following comments gave some perks in my minds, can someone please answer them.
As many of the students who aim for their Masters have a default aim in their mind of doing it from the US, and the final result expected is to land up in a decent job. Also this falls true not only to the US but to any other country, but US being the most preferred destination.
Q1 > Can a student complete his Masters in the US and then look for a job in some other country (for this instance Aus/Canada).
Q2 > Does the Aus Govt grant a PR to a experienced (4 + years) guy after completion of his masters (MS) from Aus University.
Q1 > Can a student complete his Masters in the US and then look for a job in some other country (for this instance Aus/Canada).
Yes certainly, but my logic says it is not worth. Reasoning is most of the Australian and Canadian organizations only take people who have permanent residency or citizenship. However, if a person is very much talented and is MIT, UC or Standford grad, ofcourse he can get a job and an organization can get him a work visa(which is hard to get in these countries because organization has to prove government that there is no local replacement for a skillset required by the position). But mate if you are standford, harvard or MIT grad whole world will be after you. Why would you care about Australia or Canada. Think over it.
Q2 > Does the Aus Govt grant a PR to a experienced (4 + years) guy after completion of his masters (MS) from Aus University.
PR depends on many factors not only experience. You profession must be in demand(must be in the current MODL/SOL list), your education and profession must be aligned(you should not be a civil/chemical/mechanical/electronics engineer with a 4 years of experience in IT). If education qualification is aligned to profession and you have experience in the same profile as in demand in Australia and you get an approval from right assessing authority, they will grant you 5 points for overseas experience. Please go to immigration website or contact a migration consultant to know more about it.
Hi, I need your advice about this situation:
option 1: finish my undergrad in 1 year at FIU (florida international university) in Miami – USA.
option 2: do a masters degree in Australia and finish it in 1 year.
for both of my options I would pay aproximatelly the same (24.000) just for tuition. and graduate at the same time.
my question is, which one should I take if my goal is to work in the US after finishing my studies, which one will give me more opportunities on the job market in the US. I appreciate your help, I have to decide in 2 days
If you are planning to finish master’s degree in 1 year, don’t come to Australia. US will be best for your future goal because with one year course, you won’t be eligible to apply for permanent residency in Australia so your chances to get jobs in Australia are very less and if you want to work in US then it will be better to choose a US university than Australia.
Hi Ashish,
This is Chanakya.
I have got admission into Master of Engineering(Telecommunications) at ANU and Master of Telecommunications Engineering at UNSW. I do have a work experience of 2 years as a systems engineer from TCS. I am confused on which University to choose. They say Sydney has better opportunities than Canberra, but ANU seems to be having better reputation. So please advice on the same.
Awaiting you reply.
Thank you.
UNSW and ANU both have good reputation so it won’t make much difference. I would suggest you to choose Sydney rather than Canberra. Canberra is good in two ways, first government jobs and second casual jobs. There are plenty of casual jobs and very attractive government jobs but it’s very hard to grab those government jobs because everyone wants gov jobs. Less tiring, more money, good family life, more benefits etc. Even Aussies like to work for government. However, government jobs requires citizenship and various level of security clearances which is very hard to get.
Hi Ashish,
) inclination towards Canada, but I will join a University in Australia if I got better opportunity.
), Specialization in both the countries is same.
Your Article is very helpful, thanks for sharing it. I have a query.
I am planning to do Masters in Computer Science/Information Technology. My profile is:
B.Tech. in C.S.E -80% (U P Technical University)
TOEFL ibt – 98(24R,25W,26L,23S)
GRE – 305/340 (Q-160, V-145)
I have applied to some Australian and Canadian universities. Frankly speaking I have little(very-little
The thing messing with me right now is that I got offers from Australian universities:
1. Monash- with A$5000/semester
2. Univ of Technology, Sydney- most probably A$2000/semester
3. MacQuarie- no scholarship
4. Univ of Tasmania- no scholarship
5. Queensland Univ of Technology- might be getting 25%
on the other hand I have applied to Carleton University,Canada I am still waiting for their decision. I am expecting admission from Carleton, but funding is hardly possible.
My question is because I am getting admit in Monash with partial funding and monash indeed is a good university, should I choose Monash or being inclined to canada should I choose Carleton.
P.S.: major criteria for me is better future, opportunity (by that I mean PR and other stuff
Dude Monash is very good university and is in the heart of Melbourne so good job opportunities after passing out. Other good option can be Queensland Univ of Technology because of two benefits. Firstly scholarship offered to you and secondly because QLD comes in regional area, you will get 5 points for studying in a regional area. Now decision is yours.
BTW, Rupesh can you give me more information about Monash university’s scholarship. Is it $5000 every semester or is it only $5000 one time. What is the full fee of 2 years course after scholarship?
Hi ashish, this is mentioned on my offer:
VALUE: A $5000 per 48 credit points of study, for the minimum number of credit points required to complete the degree. Typical full-time enrolment for one year of study is 48 credit points.
CONDITIONS: – Conditional upon your enrolment in the course in the Faculty of Information Technology at a Monash University campus in Australia.
- You Must maintain a minimum of a distinction weighted average mark(70 %) each sem, with no failed units to be eligible to continue receiving contribution to the following semester course fees.
It is a 1.5 years course but I am thinking of extending the course to a 2 years program.. by the conditions I think it is per year offer.
FEE: $29680 per 48 credit … 72 credit points are for 1.5 years course…
Australian degree will surely add an advantage in securing a job in Australia especially if it is from good university. But every employer basically looks for academic marks, what courses you have taken in degree, how much prior experience you have and how this experience relates to their job requirement. If all of this is very much aligned to their job requirement, they will hire you. If you are keen in securing an Australian degree, I would suggest you to enroll yourself as a part timer and go for one year degree. Stretch this degree over a duration of 2 years. This will have multiple advantage. Firstly, you will get more time to study and work and therefore, you can perform good academically and sustain a decent lifestyle(basically survive in a very expensive country). Secondly, you can keep searching for jobs. Lastly, once you know the job market well here, you are in a better position to understand what courses or unit you should enroll yourself. Like project management, requirement elicitation etc.
Hello Ashish,
My offer letter says that this course is a 1.5year Masters, some people told me that when you pursue a 2 years course then only you are eligible for 2 year work permit and PR… is it true?
how many years work permit can I get if I did a 1.5 years Masters… and should I do this 1.5 years masters or should I contact Monash to change this to a 2 years masters.. please help
Ignore my previous comment, it was intended for Dhwani. Rupesh , Monash university is good and their fees even after scholarship is expensive but compared to other universities, it is still better. As far as my knowledge goes, most probably, Monash university must have units or course every semester. Like 4 units or 4 courses every semester. Therefore, every unit/course gives you 6 credit and therefore after taking 4 units/courses, you get 24 credits in a semester and 48 credits in a year. Hope you have understood what I am saying here. So this $5000 scholarship is for one year mate. Now you can compare with fees of other universities after deducting $5000 from $30,000 which comes to be around $25,000/year. ANU currently is I think $27,500/year so better than ANU.
Hi
I have a masters from UK in mobile computing. Looking to pursue phd in Australia in mobile application development. how are the opportunities in this field specifically in android development.. how is the percentage of me getting an admission and funding?
Kindly delete my previous message. Sorry for spamming
I would suggest you to ask same questions to RMIT, University of Melbourne, University of Sydney, UNSW and ANU people. They will have a better answers because your questions is very much specific to course curricula. I would suggest you to fire these questions to university’s computer science department.
Hi
I have a masters from UK in mobile computing. Looking to pursue phd in Australia . how is the percentage of me getting an admission and funding?
Hi Ashish,
I’ve done B.tech in IT from India and planning to do masters from Australia, Melbourne.
I am keen on doing MBA as I have 3 years of experience working as a technical recruiter. Really not sure whether I should do masters in IT or MBA (HR) or dual program i.e. MBIT for better PR chances. Will i get admission in good university (please name few if you can) with the work exp. I have gained or GMAT is compulsory.
PLEASE SUGGEST, need your help…
Hi Sakshi,
Yes you can go ahead with a dual degree programme if you come across a suitable programme. Else going ahead for an MBA in HR would suit better considering your experience in recruitment. You can share your detailed profile in the forums section for suggestions on Universities you can consider. Take GMAT and share relevant details for us to comment upon your admission chances.
All the best!
Hey,
I have few questions regarding the university which is offering me Masters(by coursework) in IT with specialization in networking . The university which is offering is University of Western Sydney.
so I wanted to ask few questions
1. what is the reputation of this university in australia ?
2. is is worth doing this degree in terms of return of investment ??
3. what are the chances of getting PR after completing from this uni. ?
4. in issuing PR for Aus. , will they also consider my bachelors degree marks (completed in india)
thanx in advance…
Dude I don’t know much about this university. The only advantage I can see is Sydney as a location, please do more research on university, it is not a high ranking uni to be honest.
In issuing PR, they don’t consider your marks what they consider is how much is your studies aligned to profession you choose for applying PR.
PR does not depends on from which university you do your degree. You just need to complete 2 years of study and study needs to be enhance your skills in the profession you choose for applying PR.
“PR does not depends on from which university you do your degree” …sorry a bit change here. Yes, it does not depends on from which university you did but immigration does a check on CRICOS code of university and only certain university courses are considered for PR. You can refer immigration website for more information.
i checked my CRICOS code is a valid one.
but i dont know about the PR status of this code…
can you please provide me that link(url) where we can see the status of PR for the CRICOS code….
thanx…!!
http://cricos.deewr.gov.au/
Dear Ashish
Thank you for your good information
Please let me know more about UPC collage .I am planing to study for childcare course in UPC collage,but my main goal Is getting PR ! What do you think is it possible ?? Will i find a good job???will I get PR after 3 or 4 years ???
Best wishes
Mina – Well Mina I can’t predict and tell you whether you’ll PR or not. Even a migration consultant or a migration official can’t tell you whether you’ll get PR or not. Things change every year, no one knows what rules will be passed next year. When you reach a certain stage where you have finished your studies and are ready to file PR, you can refer immigration website for information on current rules on PR and calculate your points and based on which you can guess what are your chances of getting PR. No one can tell you in prior whether you can get PR or not. Keep checking SOL list to get an idea whether childcare is in demand as a profession or not. Most probably it is.
Am a dentist in india with one year of experience..Am planning to move to australia may be on a student visa and take up Masters in health care administration which is a 2 years course so i could apply for an PR if i get a job…So my question to you is how hard it is to find a job in australia after doing masters in health care administration and with having a dentistry background since i have heard most of the jobs requires you to have an PR??Please answer this ..Am really confused since its an big step for me to take a risk to come to australia and leave dentistry and do a 2 year study and then look for a job to apply for PR
Hoping to hear from you..Please answer
Dentists are very much in demand. Australia needs healthcare professionals and they are pretty much in demand. So don’t be reluctant. Please check the latest updated SOL list here and check for medical professions:
http://www.immi.gov.au/skilled/_pdf/updated-sol.pdf
Hi Ashish,
Chanakya again. Recently there has been an australian universities fair held in chennai. I have attended that. The thing is while in the fair,
I have applied for an MBA with University of Technology Sydney.
I have got an offer for the spring 2013 admission. Could you please suggest me whether it is a reputed university or not. And also any job acquiring chances after i complete my degree or not.
Awaiting your reply.
Chanakya, did you tried looking out for best MBA colleges in Australia(Google), Mate? I don’t think you did your research. You just went into fair and applied and they gave you admission. This is not how you decide. As far as I know few good colleges to go for MBA in Australia are AGSM(Australian Graduate School of Management) and Melbourne Business School. It is not easy to get through these colleges mate(700+ GMAT Score + Good Profile) so try hard and get admission to any one of these. Also it will be worth to check for ranking of colleges on world level to get an idea. AGSM and MBS lies in list of top 50 MBA colleges almost every year.
Hi Ashish,
This is Chanakya from chennai.
I have gone through your article. Its really helpful. Thanks a lot.
I have done my B Tech in ECE from Sastra university, Tamil Nadu. I m a 2011 passed out.
I have a GPA of 7.5 out of 10.
Right now i m working for TCS as an assistant systems engineer.
I m taking ielts on 5th of jan.
I m planning to do MS in electrical or Telecommn.
I have been aiming at the foll. Universities
University of Melbourne
University of Sydney
University of Queensland
I have been going thru few of the universities websites. And what i found out was like MS in electrical is a 2 yr course where as telecomm is a 1.5 yr course.
I have few question regarding this.
1) does the study visa given depend on the duration of the course or else will it be something common like 3 yrs or so?
I did ask this question bcoz i wud love to continue working over there after doing masters
2) how about part times ashish. Is it really tough to get the part times so that atleast i can fullfill my monthly needs instead of getting bucks from home?
3) what exactly is PR. I mean when am i good to apply for a PR?
Please do advice on the abov questions.
Thanks in advance.
1) does the study visa given depend on the duration of the course or else will it be something common like 3 yrs or so?
Yes it does. your student visa duration will depend on your duration of course so probably they will give you few months after completion of course.
I did ask this question bcoz i wud love to continue working over there after doing masters
For that you need to file PR or permanent residency or temporary residency.
2) how about part times ashish. Is it really tough to get the part times so that atleast i can fullfill my monthly needs instead of getting bucks from home?
It is not that hard but it also depends on individual, some people are very good, hard working and pick up work easily. Others are slow and reluctant to work at certain places and profession, they go through hard time.
3) what exactly is PR. I mean when am i good to apply for a PR?
Permanent Residency(you can stay in the country forever). Please browse through immigration website to know more about it.
Hey,
I wann to my MS after BE do u think that its gd to do MS
I m asking coz i didnt complete my graduation from AUS
Its from india
So wat would u suggest to do
I m from the a well middle class family…
I need some suggestion how to do MS in aus
And and i m also desperate to do MS in abraod after reading ur whole article..
And does it worth to do MS in aus
Do i get the PR or apply for PR after finishing my MS there….
Can i extend my visa after finishing my study….
Will I get the GDP job meanwhile study n after study …
Here is lots of confusion between austrelia and Canada …
Which one is better for study
What would be the cost in INR if I go for Australia …,
Would u help me out
I m the Be student from Gujarat I m pursuing my last year of BE
do u think I should start preparation of IELTS
DO THINK THAT I CAN CRACK this exam after reading this
Brijesh you are surely not in best state of mind. Please raise your confidence towards yourself. You can do it! As far as all the questions are concerned, it will be best for you to read all the articles on Australia on this forums(use Google search at the top of this page and type word Australia). I have answered all your question in various articles, I won’t repeat myself again and again. Lastly, think over what you write on forum, I can’t say just after reading your forum post whether you an crack a exam or not, I can simply guide you.
Hi Ashish,
Kindly indicate who is the best person to answer my question on pursuing PhD programs in Management courses(Mainly Marketing/Advertising)………And what all it takes(as in Test/Finance/Scores etc etc) to do PhD in Australia.
I would eagerly look forward to your reply.
Gaurab
http://www.happyschoolsblog.com/why-study-australia-phd/
Dharmesh Faldu
HI. Nice article. I am thinking of applying to University of Adelaide (masters in petroleum management program). I am in my final yr of petrochemical engg, if you could give an idea of job opportunities in the petroleum sector , also how is the reputatiion of UOA , the program and the city Adelaide.
I think Mining is really in demand and I am not pretty sure about petrochemical engineering, it would be wise to check immigration website to confirm though. UOA is a good university for sure. UOA is one of the oldest university of Australia and it is in regional area so you get few points of studying in regional area.