Is MS in Aerospace Engineering Abroad Worth It If You Are Already Earning Well In India

In yet another article under our “Is it Worth Studying Abroad if you are Already Earning well in India?” series, we will be investigating if leaving your present well-paying job or a promising offer to pursue an MS in Aerospace Engineering abroad is a financially viable move. We’ve covered four Master’s degrees till now in this series - Mechanical Engineering, Computer Science, Chemical Engineering and Material Science. You could refer to the given linked blogs if you plan to study any of these subjects, or you could read further if the course you are targeting at is a Master’s in aerospace engineering.

Is it Financially Worth Studying MS in Aerospace Engineering Abroad?

Aeronautical Engineering is a branch of engineering that helps students develop skills and knowledge needed in designing, manufacturing, and maintenance of aircraft, spacecraft, missiles, drones and weapon systems. Even though it is considered as one of the toughest branches of engineering, a good number of Indian students opt for Masters in Aerospace Engineering - both in India and abroad.

In spite of the discipline’s popularity and the bright prospects it offers, zeroing down on the one out of the two options - whether to continue with the present job or pursue MS in Aerospace Engineering abroad - expected to give higher returns is indeed a tough decision. However, one way by which students can decide is by calculating the future estimate earnings of studying abroad and comparing them with the potential earnings while working in India.

Best Way to Assess the Financial Worth of Studying Abroad? Calculate Future Estimate Earnings!

It is to help you make this decision that we at GyanDhan have come up with an Estimated future earning tool. Based on the student’s current salary, the global ranking of the target college and the chosen field of study, this tool will help students find out the NPV and understand how profitable their decision to pursue an MS from abroad will be. Additionally, the tool takes into account a couple of assumptions and other factors while calculating the returns. For a detailed insight into these assumptions and to know what terms like NPV and IRR (which we will be using throughout this article) mean, Students Can Click Here.

Now for our original question - Is studying an MS in Aerospace Engineering abroad worth it if you are already earning well in India,  we will take a look at the top five countries that are the best places to study MS in Aerospace Engineering in. To ease your understanding, we have clubbed the colleges based on their global rankings and will discuss the results for all the groups of colleges for three different salary groups. So let us begin.

The United States of America 

For a Current Salary of INR 5 Lakhs in India

Verdict - As we see from the above table, the NPV is positive as well as very high for colleges of all rankings in the US. Hence, if you are someone who is currently earning INR 5 lakhs in India and have got admission to an MS in Aerospace Engineering (AE) in the US, you should certainly choose to do it. 

For a Current Salary of INR 15 Lakhs (India) 

Verdict - When we take a look at the table for students earning 15 lakhs in India, we see that the NPV, IRR, and profit are all very high for US colleges of all rankings. Hence Indian students currently earning INR 15 lakhs in India should definitely study MS AE if given a chance.

For a Current Salary of INR 25 Lakhs (India) 

Verdict - The table above clearly shows that it does not make sense for Indian students currently earning INR 25 lakhs in India to pursue a Masters in Aerospace Engineering from any college in the US. The NPV, IRR, and profit for colleges of all ranking are negative. 

Canada

For a Current Salary of INR 5 Lakhs (India) 

Verdict -  Indian students currently earning INR 5 lakhs in India and thinking of studying an MS in Aerospace Engineering in Canada should definitely go for it. The NPV for colleges of all rankings is positive and high and thus indicates a profitable investment. 

For a Current Salary of INR 15 Lakhs (India)

Verdict - In this table, we again observe that the NPV, IRR, and profit are all negative. This implies that India students who are currently earning INR 15 lakhs in India should not pursue an MS in Aerospace Engineering from any Canadian college as it will not be a profitable decision. However, an interesting point to note in the above table is that for the Canadian colleges falling between the ranks of 51 and 100, the loss is not as drastic as that for the other ranking colleges.

This is mainly because the colleges falling under 51-100 rank bracket are mostly public universities wherein the cost of education is significantly on the lower side, and hence, the gap between the expenses and future returns, though running in the negative, is not as wide as that for the other colleges. However, this is not to say that students should consider these colleges; the profits are still on the negative side with diminutive chances of any monetary benefit.

For a Current Salary of INR 25 Lakhs (India) 

Verdict - NPV, IRR, and Profit for students earning INR 25 lakhs a year are negative. We can thereby again conclude that it is not a good idea for such students to pursue an MS in Aerospace Engineering from Canada.

Germany

For a Current Salary of INR 5 Lakhs (India)

Verdict - The table shows a high and positive NPV, IRR and Profit for German colleges of all rankings. This means that if a student is earning INR 5 lakhs a year in India currently and has the option to study MS AE in Germany, he/she should definitely choose to study in Germany. The financial benefits after MS in Aerospace Engineering in Germany will be immense in this case.

For a Current Salary of INR 15 Lakhs (India) 

Verdict - In this table, we see a negative NPV, IRR, and Profit for German colleges of all rankings. Though the profit is marginally negative for colleges ranked in the top 50, it only sees a fall as the ranking goes down. Hence, we can conclude that for Indian students currently earning INR 15 lakhs in India, pursuing an MS in AE from German colleges is not a profitable decision. 

For a Current Salary of INR 25 Lakhs (India) 

Verdict - This table also clearly indicates a negative NPV, IRR and Profit values for a salary of INR 25 lakhs in India. It is therefore not a wise decision to study MS Aerospace Engineering in Germany for such students.

Australia

For a Current Salary of INR 5 Lakhs (India)

Verdict - NPV, IRR, and profit for students who currently earn INR 5 lakhs in India are positive and quite high. If such students get an opportunity to study MS AE in Australian colleges that rank in the top 500, they should certainly go for it.

For a Current Salary of INR 15 Lakhs (India) 

For a Current Salary of 25 Lakhs (India) 

Verdict - NPV, IRR and Profit values for students having salaries between INR 15 and 25 lakhs are negative for Australian colleges of all rankings. It is therefore advisable for them to keep working in India rather than studying MS AE in Australia. 

Conclusion - The discussion above clearly shows that pursuing a Masters in Aerospace Engineering course from US, Canada, Germany, and Australia is only a wise decision for those Indian students who are currently earning INR 5 lakhs in India. Those earning INR 15 lakhs in India can also pursue an MS in Aerospace Engineering from US colleges ranked till 500 as the profit for these colleges is high too. However, students who earn more than INR 5 lakhs in India should shelve their plans of pursuing an MS in AE from Germany, Canada, and Australia and continue working in India.