According to an article published by “The Times of India” Lithuania has recorded a massive increase in the number of Indian students heading to its universities. The latest data shows that the number of Indian students studying full time in the Baltic country have increased from 37 in 2011 to 357 in 2014.

In fact an Indian student Emil William Thattakath has recently made it to Lithuania’s top 10 graduates’ list countrywide. A graduate from the Kaunas Technological University received his Master’s diploma from the hands of the president of Lithuania Dalia Grybauskaite and has won the state sponsored seat for doctoral studies at the same University.

Experts say that one of the reasons for Indian students looking to explore new territories for higher education is the new visa rules in UK.

Ilona Kazlauskaite, head of higher education programs unit in Lithuania said that Indians are coming to the country to study, because “the quality of education is among the top in Europe while living costs and tuition fees are tremendously cheap compared to UK”.

Kazlauskaite views this shift as a positive impact for Lithuanian higher education as a whole. “Indian students are sincere, diligent and very hard working. Their presence in our universities is raising the bar of excellence,” said Kazlauskaite.

This year, the numbers of Indian students in Lithuanian higher education institutions are expected to breach the 500 mark.