As the world reels under the economic downturn, perhaps the most frequently asked question among the students is whether their plans to study abroad need to be shelved.
Universities thronging South Asia perhaps may be skeptical to woo students from Asia this summer. But amidst this testing phase, one might find it surprising that the visa rejection rates to the UK have in fact, gone down over the past year.
The year-on-year statistic shows that the rejection rates for South India alone have come down from 40 per cent last September to 24 per cent for the same month this year.
L Dhanasekaran, Head Education UK (South India) speaking on the issue said "Although the impact of the global financial crisis is anticipated it has not shown any effect on the number of students enquiring us about higher studies in UK."
The British Council in partnership with the British Deputy High Commission on Tuesday organized a seminar for visa applicants interested in studying in UK universities by providing crucial information to them.
"We cannot currently anticipate any kind of situation developing that will impact students heading to the UK for higher studies as  admission process will culminate only September 2009," Dhanasekaran added.
With key rates on the higher side, student loan rates have also having increased, with many having a re-look at their future plans. Venkatesh Murthy, member of State Bank of India Officers Association believes otherwise, "I do not think students approaching banks for loans for further studies might face the brunt of the financial crisis. The impact  has been felt has been mostly on other loans."
As recruitments in the Information Technology and ITES sectors dropping over the past few months there might be some impact on students going abroad to complete their higher studies in the coming academic year.
Additional aid
The British Council representatives when having met with some universities in the UK have already seen a few concerned faces who may be thinking to provide some added aid above and beyond the normal concessions to attract students to their institutions.
 Dhanasekaran said that there has been nothing concrete on the issue.
While the concerns might still be nascent the question will be asked this coming September, how many finally enter the universities in United Kingdom.