KEY POINTS:
Korean student Eun Hyang Jin, 20, had dreams of studying in the United States or Britain.
But the New Zealand dollar's drop prompted her parents to send her to New Zealand, where it costs less than a third of the price to study English.
Affordability is also Miss Jin's reason for planning to return next year to study at the University of Auckland.
"I think New Zealand is the cheapest Western country now to do a degree or study English, and my parents also think it is safer than the US or Britain," said Ms Jin, an engineering student at Inje University in South Korea.
Her friend, Su Jeong Kang, 22, from Seoul, said "value-for-money education" was also why she chose New Zealand over traditional favourites Britain, Canada or the US to study English.
Mohd Faruque, 18, from Dubai, was due to start a business course in New York last month - but when his parents' property development business was hit by the downturn, they made a last-minute decision for him to study in New Zealand.
"My heart is set on America, but my parents are the ones who control the money, and New Zealand is all they can afford because of the economic crisis, so here I am," Mr Faruque said.
The drop in the New Zealand dollar has come as a blessing for the export education sector, as many students hit by the economic slowdown are switching their study destinations.
Travel agent Abdul Karim, who is on a business trip from Malaysia, says he is also scouting for a university course for his 18-year-old daughter.
"New Zealand is a good alternative, because it is also not as badly hit as Britain or the USA in the job market, and there is a chance my daughter can find work here after she graduates."
Education New Zealand, which markets New Zealand abroad as a study destination, is keeping a close watch on the market, and concentrating on sending the message of the "incredible value for money" foreign students get when they study here.
"Despite the global downturn," said chief executive Robert Stevens, "export education is one sector that can continue to do well."
