Planning a master’s for September 2027? Four rule changes matter. Canada plans to issue 408,000 study permits in 2026, but only 155,000 of them are for new arrivals. The other 253,000 are extensions for students already in the country (University Affairs). For master’s applicants, the key change is this: from 1 January 2026, master’s and PhD students at public universities no longer need a provincial attestation letter, so the provincial cap doesn’t apply to them, though they still count toward the national total (CIC News). The UK Graduate Route drops to 18 months for applications made from 1 January 2027 (UKCISA). Australia’s post-study visa fee rose to AUD 5,750 on 1 July 2026. And Germany’s EU Blue Card salary floor is now €50,700 (Make it in Germany).
UK vs Canada vs Australia vs Germany: master’s cost comparison 2026
| Destination | Typical length | Total cost | Approx. in INR | Post-study work |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Germany | 2 years | €24,000–€38,000 | ₹26–42 lakh | 18-month job-seeker permit |
| UK | 1 year | £31,000–£60,000 | ₹40–77 lakh | 18-month Graduate Route |
| Canada | 1–2 years | CAD 60,000–145,000 | ₹41–100 lakh | 3-year PGWP |
| Australia | 2 years | AUD 125,000–195,000 | ₹85–133 lakh | Up to 3 years for Indian master’s graduates |
Mid-September 2026 rates: £1 = ₹128, €1 = ₹110, C$1 = ₹69, A$1 = ₹68. Australia excludes the AUD 5,750 post-study visa fee. Add a 10% currency buffer and size your loan on the local-currency figure.
Germany is cheapest because most public universities charge no tuition. The student visa requires €11,904 a year in a blocked account (DAAD). The exceptions are Baden-Württemberg, which charges non-EU students €1,500 a semester, and TUM, which charges non-EU master’s students €4,000–€6,000.
Canada wants first-year tuition plus CAD 23,448 in living funds upfront, a figure raised on 1 September 2026 (Moving2Canada). The UK asks you to show £1,529 a month in London or £1,171 elsewhere, rising to £1,570 and £1,203 from 30 November 2026 (gov.uk).
Post-study work and permanent residency
Australia: Indian master’s graduates can get up to three years on the subclass 485 under the Australia–India ECTA (DFAT). The catch is that your course must run at least two academic years, and you must be 35 or under when you apply (Home Affairs). For PR, software engineers and accountants have recently needed 95 points or more, while engineers have been invited at around 85 (SkillSelect).
UK: After the Graduate Route, you’ll need a Skilled Worker visa. As a new entrant, that means £33,400 or 70% of your job’s going rate, whichever is higher (gov.uk). Settlement still follows after five years today. However, the Home Office has consulted on raising the standard wait to ten years, with shorter routes for higher earners (House of Commons Home Affairs Committee). Plan as though it could apply to you.
Canada: Any master’s of eight months or more earns a three-year PGWP (IRCC). You’ll need CLB 7 on an approved test, and for IELTS that means General Training, not Academic (EduCanada). Canadian Experience Class draws have needed 507–523 CRS points in 2026 (IRCC), which is more than most new graduates score, so plan on building Canadian work experience first.
Germany: You get an 18-month job-seeker permit. A job at €50,700 then qualifies you for a Blue Card, and recent graduates and shortage fields need only €45,934. Blue Card holders can apply for permanent residence after 27 months, or 21 with B1 German (BAMF).
Graduate salaries and the loan repayment test
A ₹50 lakh loan at 10.5% over ten years costs about ₹67,500 a month. At ₹1 crore, it’s about ₹1.35 lakh.
- Australia: International postgraduate coursework graduates, the group master’s students fall into, earned a median AUD 69,400 in the latest survey. That’s AUD 35,300 less than domestic graduates (QILT).
- UK: Top employers pay a median £35,000 (High Fliers). The median across all graduates is £30,000, up from £28,500 the year before (HESA). Fifteen months after finishing, 13% of international postgraduates were unemployed, against 3% of UK peers (UKCISA).
- Canada: Indeed’s averages for junior and entry-level engineers run roughly CAD 72,000–82,000 (Indeed).
- Germany: A job paying the €45,934 Blue Card minimum works out to about ₹4.2 lakh a month before tax, and you’d be repaying the smallest loan of the four.
Which destination fits you
These four example students show how the trade-offs play out in practice.
Aditya, mechanical engineering graduate, Pune, loan ceiling ₹40 lakh: Germany. A two-year public-university master’s keeps his total cost inside that ceiling, as long as he avoids TUM and Baden-Württemberg. An engineering job at the €45,934 graduate threshold gets him a Blue Card and a path to PR in under three years. The trade-off is language: English-taught programmes exist, but learning German widens his job options and B1 German shortens his PR wait to 21 months.
Sneha, computer science graduate, Hyderabad, can borrow ₹80 lakh or more: Australia, with caution. As an Indian master’s graduate she can stay up to three years on the 485, which is plenty of time to build Australian experience. But ICT is one of the most competitive occupations for PR, at 95 points or more, so she should budget for the long route through state nomination. At this loan size, her EMI is about ₹1.08 lakh a month.
Rohan, data science graduate, Delhi, happy to wait for PR: Canada. A one-year master’s at a public university skips the provincial cap and still earns a three-year PGWP. He should expect to need Canadian work experience, and ideally French, before his CRS score reaches recent cut-offs.
Meera, commerce graduate, Mumbai, aiming for London finance: the UK. A one-year master’s keeps her loan lower, and top-employer salaries clear the £33,400 Skilled Worker floor. She has 18 months to land a sponsored role, and the ten-year settlement proposal means PR may take longer than it used to. For arts, public-sector or regional roles, the UK is a harder bet.
Your next steps
- Run the loan maths. Take the total cost in rupees, add 10%, and work out the EMI at your lender’s rate. Then compare it with the median salary in your field.
- Check your occupation. Before you shortlist, look at Australia’s skilled occupation lists, Canada’s Express Entry categories and Germany’s shortage list.
- Use subject-level data. HESA and QILT break outcomes down by field, which tells you more than the headline median.
- Confirm lender approval for every programme on your list before you apply, not after you get an offer.
Related reading
Find the course, and the university
Every programme and institution Envision works with, searchable by country, field and intake.