Global Student Mobility

Visa and Immigration Trends: A Comparative Examination of International Student Mobility in Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States

“…International student recruitment policies, particularly at the graduate level, have become a tool as part of the global competition to attract highly skilled international students. These policy changes have been propelled by a combination of factors such as the need to (a) compete in the global international student market; (b) keep pace with aggressive recruiting strategies by many countries around the world to host more international students; and (c) negotiate the expanding economies of countries like China and India that not only provide more higher education opportunities for their own students, but also host an increasing number of international students (Banks & Bhandari, ). Many countries also hope to attract international students by formalizing the link between higher education degree attainment and skilled migration, especially in scientific and technical fields.…”

“…International student mobility especially at the graduate level (master's and doctoral) has become an important policy issue in the internationalization of higher education due to the global movement of international students across borders. International students are moving across national borders in greater numbers than ever before to seek advanced degree opportunities due to a shortage of graduate programs in their home countries; to increase their employability in their home countries or abroad; to expand their intellectual, social, and economic opportunity through migration; and to obtain access to Western culture and its tools, as this is valued in the global job market (Altbach & Reisberg, ; Banks & Bhandari, ; Gopal, 2013). Moreover, Perna, Orosz, & Jumakulov () point out that “educational attainment, an indicator of the human capital accumulated by a population,” is inextricably linked to a nation's level of prosperity and “global economic competitiveness” (p. 85).…”

“…At the same time, the impetus of countries and universities recruiting international students is a complex issue and has become an increasingly commercial endeavor (Altbach & Reisberg, ). Many countries and institutions around the world rely on international student enrollment as a way to generate revenue and bolster their economies (Banks & Bhandari, ). Universities also view international student recruitment as a reliable and independent source of much‐needed income (Hawthorne, ).…”

The Development of “Asian Academic Credits” as an Aligned Credit Transfer System in Asian Higher Education

“…During the 1990s and 2000s, many Asian countries and territories experienced a rapid expansion of higher education institutions and their student populations (Banks & Bhandari, 2012; Chapman, 2009; Kim, 2010; Lee, 2007; Yonezawa, Kitamura, Meerman, & Kuroda, 2014). The development of European regional reform of higher education, called the “Bologna Process,” along with the European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (hereafter, ECTS) motivated leaders in Asian higher education to follow a similar path under the concept of “harmonization of higher education in Asia” (European Union Support to Higher Education in ASEAN Region Secretariat, 2016; Kuroda, Yuki, & Kang, 2013; Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization-Regional Centre for Higher Education and Development [SEAMEO-RIHED], 2008).…”

Academic Mobility and Migration: What We Know and What We Do Not Know

“…Although student mobility is so high on the political agenda, the quality of international data collection is deplorable 27 . Three weaknesses are most salient in this context:dominance of data of foreign students and study abroad,no distinction is made between temporary mobility and mobility for the whole study programme, andexclusion of most temporarily mobile students.…”