The world's largest study abroad program platform. Founded by IITians Abhinav Mital (ISB), Pranav Saxena, and Amit Garga (IIMB). The WorldGrad aims to make high-quality overseas education more accessible to students through its range of hybrid programs, co-developed and delivered in partnership with globally ranked institutions.  Through its program portfolio, The WorldGrad offers a personalized path to over 1,000 overseas degrees across key English-speaking destinations. Unlike most study abroad platforms, The WorldGrad allows students to complete a part of their overseas degree on their platform and finish the rest, on-campus abroad. This allows students to gain the much needed academic skills while saving money and time. It is best known for its two-tiered teaching model and unparalleled 1-1 learning support, and also for other services like academic and financial counselling. The Ed-tech platform has helped 50,000 students in the last 12 months and plans to help 500,000 more students realise their study-abroad dreams in the coming years. Analytics Insight has engaged in an exclusive interview with Abhinav Mital, Co-Founder, of The WorldGrad.

1.Kindly brief us about the company, its specialisation, and the services that your company offers.

 We established The WorldGrad in 2021 with a mission to increase access to high-quality education for students. We are expanding the options for students to pursue overseas education. We are not just adding more universities, we are also adding new paths via which students can study at those institutes.

We are the first in the market to introduce a hybrid model to overseas degrees. Students can choose to complete up to one year of the degree with The WorldGrad and finish the remaining duration of their course on-campus at the university of their choice. Our fully online models offer students the flexibility to choose the duration, subjects, and timing of their studies with us. It creates personalized routes for students based on their preparations to transit overseas. And based on their preferences, students can also opt for direct routes to universities and institutes.  

We have a team of highly experienced academic counselors who first help students choose the best path for them. Once they enroll, they can start their international coursework in our bespoke learning programs with tailored academic support from overseas teachers and local facilitators. This will not only help our students bridge any academic gaps but also get them accustomed to overseas academic standards.

We also offer assistance to our students to finalise their transition with all formalities including financing, visa applications, and on-arrival support. The goal is to prepare our students to achieve academic excellence, even in an international setting. We look at the hybrid learning model as a supplement to the traditional curriculum methods that can broaden students' opportunities to seek academic exposure.

2 Brief us about the proactive Founder/CEO of the company and his/her contributions towards the company and the industry.

 We (Abhinav Mital, Pranav Saxena, and Amit Garga) founded The WorldGrad after identifying challenges faced by students aspiring to study abroad. We have more than 40 years of cumulative experience in the education sector. And during those years, we observed that most students struggle when it comes to filling academic skill gaps, financial hurdles, and mis-enrolment.

Now, with The WorldGrad, we are working on addressing those issues by utilizing technology to create personalized paths for each of our students and increase their chances of success.

3.What are your growth plans for the next 12 months?

 Our focus has always been on offering students seamless access to renowned universities across the globe. And we have received an incredible response so far. We will continue to create more platforms with a continued expansion across India. A recent investment by Australia's Online Education Services, an online education enabler, has helped us accelerate our expansion efforts. In turn, this allows us to help more students achieve their study abroad ambitions.

In the next 12 months, we plan to establish at least 50 academic program partnerships with prestigious universities. We have already introduced our one-on-one coaching program, which ensures that students are prepared to complete their remaining coursework on campus.  It perfectly complements our recently launched UK 1 Year program, which helps students complete the first 40 weeks of any undergraduate degree in only 26 weeks online.

Going forward, we also have plans in place to add 500 professionals to our team, including branding, content developers, recruitment, instructors, and administration.

4.What are some of the challenges faced by the industry today?

There are three major challenges the industry is facing today: the depreciation of the rupee, too many agents and consultants along with misinformation, and high visa rejection rates and long processing times.

Our model helps mitigate all three. For starters, with hybrid programs, our students can prove their academic commitments while also utilizing the long waiting period to complete a part of their degree, which results in a higher visa success rate. We also have academic partnerships in place directly with universities. Hence, students get clear and correct enrolment-related information.

Because our in-country programs are charged in Indian rupees, students are protected from currency fluctuations for at least the next 6-12 months while enrolled in our program

5.What is your Leadership Mantra?

"Education Knows No Barriers and Neither Do We." This is the mantra we uphold at The WorldGrad and in our leadership. It is our enthusiasm that has helped us achieve our success so far. We are always ready to go the extra mile for our partners and students. Not only do we personalise all our learning experiences that suit the needs of our students but we always aim to retain the academic standards and values of our partner institutes. We have similar beliefs in our day-to-day operations and strategic planning as well. Hence, you will constantly see us innovating and developing new solutions that will help us transform the lives of our students for the better.

6.What is the edge your company has over other players in the industry?

 At The WorldGrad, we bring new and innovative academic options to the traditional study abroad market. We have resolved most of the most common challenges students face when considering studying at an overseas university. Be it costs, adjusting to an international education system, or cultural differences, we address them all.

Our hybrid learning programs allow students to complete a part of their degree from home, which helps them save about 20 to 25% in overall expenses. They also help them achieve fluency in the academic environment and give them a chance to prove their academic commitments beyond doubt. This is particularly critical when it comes to visa applications and processing.

 All our curriculums are designed in partnership with foreign institutes and conducted by international professionals. It gives our students the same learning experience in an academic program that they would have obtained on-campus. In short, our personalised instructional assistance, one-on-one tutoring program, and collaborations with prestigious international education institutes place The WorldGrad in a class of its own.