Nepal and the Philippines: The Two Study-Abroad Markets That Investors Are Still Sleeping On
Every education finance conversation I have with investors eventually circles back to the same three markets: Nigeria, India, and maybe Kenya. These are legitimate markets — we operate actively in all three — but they are also heavily competed, well-documented, and increasingly well-funded by established players.
If I were deploying capital in global education finance today and thinking about where the asymmetric opportunity is, I would be looking at Nepal and the Philippines. Here's why — and what I've learned from our first 90 days of active operations in both.
Nepal: A Market With No Product
Nepal sends over 110,000 students abroad annually. Japan, Australia, the UK, and increasingly Hungary and Germany are the top destinations. The student population is academically capable, English-proficient (Nepal's education system produces a significant English-speaking graduate cohort), and highly motivated by the combination of domestic economic pressure and overseas opportunity.
The domestic lending market for international study is effectively non-functional for most students. Nepali commercial banks — regulated by NRB — require property collateral at 120–150% LTV for education loans. In practice, this means: if you need $20,000 for UK tuition, your family needs to pledge land worth $24,000–$30,000. Most families in the target student demographic — urban middle class, college-educated parents, aspirational — either don't own sufficient property or are unwilling to risk it.
The infrastructure gap: There is currently no Nepali bank, no domestic fintech, and no international lender with a Nepal-specific international education loan product. The market exists; the product does not. This is a genuine infrastructure gap, not a demand gap.
What makes Nepal particularly interesting from an investment perspective:
- Remittance culture: Nepal is one of the most remittance-dependent economies in the world — remittances represent approximately 22–27% of GDP. Repayment via overseas family members is culturally embedded and operationally straightforward
- Hungary corridor: Nepali students are one of the largest international cohorts at the University of Pécs (medicine, English-medium, €10,000–14,000/year). The tuition level is low enough that the loan amounts are manageable; the employment outcomes for medical graduates are strong enough that repayment rates should be favourable
- First-mover advantage: There are no established competitors in this corridor. The first platform to build trust and product recognition in Nepal wins disproportionate market share
The Philippines: OFW as a Funding Engine
The Philippines is a different kind of opportunity. It's not a lack of financial sophistication — the Philippines has a developed banking sector and a highly financially literate population. The gap is structural: CHED (the government education regulator) covers domestic institutions only, and Philippine commercial banks offer personal loans at 15–25% per annum in PHP — expensive, currency-risky, and capped at amounts insufficient for international study.
What makes the Philippines exceptional is the OFW dynamic. Overseas Filipino Workers remit $34 billion annually to the Philippines (BSP, 2024). A significant and growing portion of this is directed toward children's international education — specifically, parents in the UK, USA, Gulf, and Hong Kong who want their children to have international credentials.
The OFW financing model: An OFW parent in the UK who earns in GBP can make USD loan repayments directly from their UK account — no PHP conversion, no remittance. The student studies internationally. The loan is repaid internationally. This model works cleanly within GlobCred's USD loan structure in ways that PHP-denominated domestic loan products cannot replicate.
The Philippines also has one of the strongest growth trajectories for UK and EU study among all Southeast Asian markets. UK Student Visa grants to Filipino nationals have increased year-on-year. The EU Blue Card and post-study work pathways in Hungary and Germany are actively marketed by Philippine universities and agent networks.
What We've Learned in the First 90 Days
GlobCred entered both markets formally in early 2026. Some early observations for anyone considering these corridors:
- Trust is hyper-local: In Nepal, student counsellors at the institute level are gatekeepers. University counsellors, agents, and education consultancies have enormous influence. Institutional credibility — being known by the counsellors who advise students — matters more than any amount of digital marketing
- The Philippines is agent-driven: Filipino students use accredited agents (IACS-affiliated) extensively for UK and EU applications. Building agent relationships is the fastest route to student volume
- Verification infrastructure is the blocker in both markets: Academic credential verification, identity authentication, and university confirmation need to happen across different document standards, languages, and institutional structures. Platforms that solve the verification layer first will win; this is exactly why we built Aveka as a separate B2B infrastructure product
The Investor Case
These are not charity corridors. They are investable markets with:
- High intent, low competition
- Strong diaspora repayment infrastructure (remittances and overseas earnings)
- Manageable loan sizes ($10,000–$30,000 per student) that reduce portfolio concentration risk
- Clear post-graduation employment pathways in destination countries that support repayment
If you are a fund, family office, or DFI with interest in emerging market education finance and want to see our data on these corridors, I'd welcome the conversation.
Which emerging market education finance corridor do you think is most undervalued right now?
Interested in building in global education finance?
Connect with GlobCred — we're always open to conversations with banks, universities, and investors.
Get in Touch →