New Delhi, Sep 29 (IANS): The second edition of the European Higher Education Fair that kicks off here Friday has attracted a record 125 institutions, including a few in the Top 100 in world university rankings.

It is for the first time that so many education institutions from the 26 European Union (EU) member-states are coming together on a single platform in India.

Aimed at Indian students looking to go abroad for higher studies, the fair allows them an opportunity to interact with university representatives and explore educational, scholarship and career opportunities in the EU, a release said.

With almost 50,000 Indian students, the EU has emerged as their second-most preferred destination globally -- next only to the UK.

The fair will showcase some of the top institutions in Europe. As many as 21 participating universities are ranked in this year's Times Higher Education World University Rankings Top 400, and four figure in the Top 100.

Although the UK attracts the most Indian students, EU countries like Germany, France, Sweden, the Netherlands, Italy, Finland and Spain are becoming increasingly popular.

Even lesser-known European countries like Cyprus or Lithuania are now hosting more than 500 Indian students, the release said.

Most Indian students go to Europe for engineering degrees -- mainly computer science, information systems, mechanical, electronics and electrical streams. 

The trends are, however, changing as Indian students are now also choosing EU for courses in accounting and finance, bio-science, economics, law, medicine or the arts.

Though popular perception is that the EU presents language problems, the release said that some 12,500 undergraduate programmes and a significant proportion of graduate programs are taught in English in all 28 EU countries.