Exploring Push-Pull Factors and AI Influence on Indian Students’ Higher Education Choices Abroad: A Predictive Analytic Approach

Abstract

Outbound mobility of Indian students has increased rapidly, driven by expanding demand for programs in STEM, business programs, medicine and other professional fields.Students are attracted by superior academic infrastructure, research opportunities and employment prospects in host countries. This study examines the extent to which push-pull factors, combined with AI-driven tools and platforms, influence students’ decisions and their resulting satisfaction and advocacy behaviour. The findings reveal that rising challenges in the home country significantly reduce satisfaction with overseas education choices. Notably, AI trust demonstrates a strong positive effect on students’ advocacy behaviour, indicating that students who trust AI enabled systems are more likely to recommend international education to peers. This study integrates the push-pull migration theory with the Technology Acceptance Model [TAM], offering a digitally enhanced framework for understanding contemporary student mobility.