Nigeria's Student Mobility Dynamics: Navigating Challenges Amidst Flickers of Promise
By Ameena Ali
Studyportals data has signaled that Nigerian students have shown a drastic change in their interest to study abroad. Across all disciplines, Nigeria displayed a steep decline in absolute demand (i.e. pageviews). Applied Sciences & Professions experienced the largest decline in the last 12 months (-32.9%), while Computer Science & IT witnessed the least (-10.9%). As Nigeria is the 4th top source country by volume of student interest for Bachelor’s and Master’s programmes, this decline is bound to create challenges for universities.
Recently, a new report from British Council, in conjunction with Oxford Economics, looked at trend in the relationship between international student mobility and macroeconomics from countries that send students to study abroad. In this, the report? elaborated that Nigeria is proving to be a high-risk market as the country’s economic situation showed low opportunities for students studying abroad.??
In 2023, Nigeria faced significant economic challenges stemming from demonetisation policies, a contested election, and global crises, which hindered growth and exacerbated existing structural issues. These economic difficulties, marked by inflation, currency depreciation, and fiscal constraints, create barriers for Nigerian students considering international education due to financial constraints and uncertainty about the country's economic stability. The trendline displayed below also shows that Nigerian interest peaked in late 2022, but has been declining since.?
The ‘Big 4’ destination countries (The UK, Canada, The US and Australia) have seen a marked decrease in interest from Nigeria. The UK however,? has been significantly affected? as Nigeria?is the biggest source country of international students after China and India. Moreover, even on a subdiscipline level, the disparity between the UK and other destinations is clear. For example, while the average decline in interest from Nigeria,? for the US, across the top 100 subdisciplines for is -12%, for the UK, it is -53%.??
The decrease is?likely linked to the new British government policy that has banned dependent visas, and the announcement of a review of post-graduation work visas. This, combined with the economic struggles that Nigeria is currently facing, has made it quite difficult for Nigerian students to consider studying in the UK, which can be seen in the 76% decrease in visa issuances that has been noted in January 2024 by Enroly Data Insights.?
With that said, upon closer examination of the data, there are still some positive findings to highlight.?
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When analysing the performance of the top-100 subdisciplines for all destinations in terms of Nigerian student interest, they all show a decline except for Cyber Security which stands out with a year-over-year growth of +17.6% in absolute interest.?
For the US specifically, many subdisciplines indicate growth. The figure below showcases the subdisciplines among the top 100 that show growth in interest from Nigeria for programmes offered in the US, with the average growth rate being +16.5%. The bubble size represents the volume of demand that each subdiscipline captures. In addition to Cyber Security, the subdisciplines that show the most promise include Architecture and Data Analytics as they have sufficient volume and higher growth rates.?
On a broader scale, while Nigeria has shown decreased interest in the Big 4 destinations, some demand seem to have shifted to other countries. According to our data, it appears that destination countries such as Austria, Italy, and Finland have witnessed a rise in demand. Hence, Nigerian students may be looking at European institutions as alternatives to the traditionally more expensive countries that have been discussed. With these new trends, it will be intriguing to keep an eye on Nigeria as its students embark on their journey to enrol in their desired programmes.?
Although Nigeria is currently perceived as a challenging market to enter, the insights presented could inspire universities to explore strategies for engaging with this population. Addressing the affordability concerns of Nigerian students could be a highly effective initial step. By providing scholarship opportunities, offering financial assistance, or seeking solutions to exchange rate challenges, students may be more inclined to pursue studies abroad, reassured that some of their financial worries can be resolved. Furthermore, it is also key to look for pockets of opportunity by considering what Nigerian students are interested in studying.
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