Call it  ‘budget’ education or blended degrees. For an increasing number of students from India, they are just what the doctor ordered. The fact that they reduce the burden on the wallet is just one — but important reason — for their attraction.

Consider this: A four-year bachelor’s degree in the US costs Rs 1-1.5 crore, including tuition fees and living expenses. Thanks to hybrid programmes offered by study abroad platforms like Leap, upGrad and Great Learning, the students can get the same degree by shelling out just Rs 45-50 lakh. The firms have tied up with universities in the US, Germany, France, Canada, Ireland, Finland, and others to offer the hybrid service.

Take the case of upGrad Abroad, which has partnered with 80 foreign schools, IIIT Bangalore and IMT Ghaziabad. Under the programme, a student finishes part of the course in India, and then moves abroad to complete their education in the respective foreign universities. In the process, they end up saving a huge amount, and earn a foreign degree awarded to regular students of these universities.

For instance, through upGrad’s collaboration with Germany-based IU International University of Applied Sciences, a BSc Computer Science course is spread over six semesters (or three years), wherein the first two semesters are taught online. The tuition fee for the first two semesters is Rs 4.07 lakh.  For the next four semesters, the students go to Germany and study on campus, where the tuition fee is about Rs 10.8 lakh. This results in savings of up to Rs15 lakh in comparison to a full–time degree in Germany, upGrad claims.

The firm says courses are designed after detailed discussions with foreign universities and Indian partners. After the online course is completed in India, the students are required to clear certain modules and score a GPA of 3-3.5 or above to be eligible for on-campus studies.

“There’s no compromise on the quality of students going abroad. The role of Indian institutes ends as soon as the online portion of the course is completed. The credits earned by a student during the online course are transferred abroad,” said Ankur Nyati, president at upGrad Abroad.

Mohan Lakhamraju, founder and CEO of Great Learning, an institute offering hybrid courses, said accessing high-quality global education has been challenging for a large section of students due to high costs and the logistics involved.

“With hybrid degree options from top universities, we are working on reducing these barriers to give more people a chance to experience world-class education,” he said.

There is a lot of traction for these programmes already. For instance, upGrad enrolled nearly 4,500 students at the graduate level last year. The hybrid model is doing well for courses in countries like Germany, France and Ireland, where the cost of education is already lower than the US.

Nyati said there a lot of takers for these programmes in tier-II and III cities because students from these cities are aspirational but lack exposure. “We have been able to break the affordability barrier for them. It’s not just the academic pedagogy. The six to eight months of online learning helps students navigate the cultural nuances of the countries where they will finish their degrees. We are also hiring a couple of German coaches to teach the language,” he said.

Another study abroad firm, Leap Advantage, has tied up with Colorado State University, University of Delaware, Michigan Technological University, University of Detroit Mercy and others to offer master’s degree in a variety of areas such as computer science, computer engineering, data analytics, finance, mechanical engineering, business administration (MBA) and health informatics. After the studies, which includes six months of online course in India followed by 12-18 months of on-campus education, the students get a three-year post-study work visa.

The firms claim that these universities are top league in their respective countries. For example, as per Leap Advantage, an 18-month mechanical engineering masters degree at Michigan Technological University has a placement record of 93.8% with average salaries of about $96,000 per annum.

While the veracity of the assertions needs to be ascertained, blended degrees have many believers, too, especially in smaller towns. According to an upGrad survey, almost 60% of the 25,000 respondents who expressed interest in studying abroad hail from Tier 2 and 3 cities, as compared to 42.8% who belong to Tier 1 cities.