Germany and Ireland are becoming preferred destinations for Indian students, pushing the USA, UK, Canada and Australia out of the spotlight. In the winter semester of 2025–26, 69,816 Indian students were enrolled in German universities, up 17.5% from the previous year.

In Ireland, about 9,175 Indian students attended courses in 2024–25, making up 20.6% of the country's non-Irish-domiciled student cohort.

The shift stems from Return On Investment (ROI) factors and the promise of post-study work opportunities. Germany offers an 18-month post-study work right to international students; Ireland provides a similar 18-month post-graduation work opportunity. Bengaluru start-up hopefuls often gravitate toward Germany, while those drawn to healthcare or social sciences prefer Ireland.

TOEFL iBT is accepted by more than 13,500 institutions across over 160 countries worldwide. In January 2026, TOEFL reduced the test duration to 90 minutes and introduced a Multi-Stage Adaptive Test (MST) format. In German universities, of more than 60,000 students, 12,000 are from Karnataka.