“Attracting international students: why is it so important?”  

U6653 Higher Education Development and Policy in Asia Prof. Alessia Lefebure  

Chris Kim 2/13/2014

Global Student Mobility Increases! • One of the most notable trends is the massive increase in the number of

international students in the world’s highest ranked universities. The total figure has increased by 10% at the top 100 universities. This is the biggest rise in the history of the rankings.

• In fact, Columbia international student enrollment increases!

5,565 (fall 2011)

6,050 (Fall 2012)

7,067 (Fall 2013)

Who are leading hosting countries?According to the UNESCO Institute of Statistics (UIS) , the four leading destination countries – the U.S., the UK, Australia, and Canada – all witnessed sizable growth from 2002 to 2009. 

• Canada saw the biggest percentage gains, with enrollments increasing by 67% (from 52,650 in 2002 to 87,798 in 2009)

• The UK and Australia with 62% (from 227,273 to 368,968) and 43% (from 179,619 to 257,637) respectively.

• Although U.S. enrollment grew at a slower rate of 13% (from 582,996 to 660,581 students), it remained the leading destination in absolute numbers and enrolled approximately one-fifth of all mobile students worldwide in 2009.

United States of America

Top 5 - Country of OriginChina (126,498)India (103,968)South Korea (71,514)Canada (27,896)Japan (24,622)Top 5 – Destination CountryUnited Kingdom (13,855)Canada (7,080)Germany (3,569)France (3,435)Australia (3,018)

HONG KONGTop 5 - Country of OriginChina (9405)Malaysia (147)China, Macao (93)South Korea (83)India (46)

Top 5 – Destination Country Australia (12,662)United Kingdom (9,839)United States (7,963)Canada (1,797)China, Macao (274)

JAPANTop 5 - Country of OriginChina (86,553)South Korea (25,660)Vietnam (3,280)Thailand (2,419)Malaysia (2,271)

Top 5 – Destination Country United States (24,662)United Kingdom (3,354)Australia(2,413)Canada (1,815)Germany (1,784)

South Korea

Top 5 - Country of OriginChina (45,757)Mongolia (2,190)Vietnam (1,662)Japan (1,147)United States (988)

Top 5 – Destination Country United States (71,514)Japan (25,660)Australia (7,311)United Kingdom (4,347)Canada (4,326)

Impact of International Students Mobility • Hosting Country

• Institution

• Domestic Students

“But if the right precautions are taken, it’s easy to see the benefits of student mobility; to the student, to the host country, to employers, to

universities themselves and to the student’s home country, which profits from the global perspective of its overseas-educated graduates.”

http://www.topuniversities.com

Impact of International Students Mobility – Hosting Country 1. Economic • Revenue stream: tuition, living expenses, tours,

• Ex) Each year, NAFSA (National Association of Foreign Student Advisors)calculates the economic value of international students and their dependents to the U.S. economy. During the 2012-2013 academic year, NAFSA estimates that international students and their dependents contributed $24 billion to the U.S. economy, creating and supporting 313,000 jobs.

2. Globalization• “Governments understand the desirability for students to develop a ‘global mindset’ and the

benefits that this brings to both the individual, the economy and society.”

• Globalization of a country begins with its citizens.

Impact of International Students Mobility – Institution1. Curriculum

• Challenges for teachers to be creative and adaptable: the presence of international students pose potential to change both the content and the process of education.

• For example, educational settings that boast of students from diverse national and cultural backgrounds have intrinsic assets for widening an intellectual perspective and internationalizing the content of teaching material.

• Classrooms divided into small heterogeneous groups which constitute the learning units

2. Ranking• As an essential element of be highly ranked.• Times Higher Education “The ability of a university to attract undergraduates and

postgraduates from all over the planet is key to its success on the world stage: this factor is measured by the ratio of international to domestic students and is worth 2.5 per cent of the overall score.”

Impact of International Students Mobility – Domestic Students

• Learning opportunity through cross-cultural experience

• Providing the opportunity for domestic students to be exposed to other cultures

• Good work habits of international students provide positive examples for domestic students

• Assistance/incentive to domestic students in learning foreign languages

• Students interact directly with one another: interaction includes mutual cooperation, assistance and exchange of ideas in pursuit of a common goal

Thank you!