The price of an Oxford education is high, but so are the returns

Most were working in the UK, US, United Arab Emirates and Europe.

“Every single person surveyed received a pay increase after finishing their postgraduate course, with 25 per cent receiving a pay hike of over 90 per cent,” Mr Hollingsworth said.

“The most important reason people choose to study at a prestigious overseas university is career advancement.

“More than 50 per cent were studying in the US where the price tag is up to $200,000, but they knew that that was going to be well worth it.”

The cheapest option to fund overseas study was the bank of mum and dad or to use your own savings, but that was not available to everyone, Mr Hollingsworth said.

“But banks are unlikely to provide a loan to people who will be studying full-time for between 12 and 24 months.”

The idea of providing a kind of bridging loan to students who want to study overseas but need financial backing came to him while studying for his master’s of business administration at Oxford University five years ago.

Jacob Bignell, 27, was born on the South Island of New Zealand and studied economics working for a state-owned enterprise in the food quality and assurance space, when he decided to make the leap and head to Oxford for an MBA.

“I figured going overseas to study would open more doors and that I would also figure out what jobs and careers existed that I didn’t know about because I grew up in a small town on the South Island,” Mr Bignell said.

“Wanting to study overseas was actually part of wanting to be part of a diverse international cohort and getting to hang out and spend time with people from different countries, different cultures and different experiences.”

He narrowed down his short list to Cambridge, London Business School and Oxford, and finally opted for the latter “because it all ticked all the boxes”.

The experience – and the education – were transformative.

“I was just constantly walking around wide-eyed. You pop into a pub for a beer, and it’s been serving beer since before New Zealand was colonised. Oxford ended up being a pretty easy choice,” Mr Bignell said.

What wasn’t so easy was getting the money to fund the big adventure. He managed to get about half of the cost on three scholarships, but ended up borrowing $60,000.

He also excelled at his studies, making the dean’s list for academic distinction.

After graduation, Mr Bignell took time out to travel around Europe and then headed for Sydney, where he quickly landed a job with Bain & Co in May last year.

Since attending Oxford, Mr Bignell says he has been fielding at least a couple of calls a week from random strangers who have heard of his experience and want advice on whether they should follow in his footsteps.

The answer is an unabated “yes”.

“It was the most amazing year of my life,” he says. “It will resonate for years to come.”