Internationalisation and trade in higher education: opportunities and challenges

The last decade has seen the development of new forms of cross-border post-secondary education, both in terms of international student mobility and the mobility of educational programs and institutions across borders. This publication seeks to provide an account of these activities at the global level. It compiles current statistics, case studies and policy reports, analyses the major trends and developments in this area in North America, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region, identifies the rationales of stakeholders and the major approaches to cross-border education, and outlines the main challenges emerging from the rapid growth in this area for both national and international level policies. Topics covered include: policy initiatives to promote cross-border post-secondary education; individual, institutional and country rationales for delivering or receiving such educational services; the extent and growth of this educational activity in terms of student mobility, program mobility (e.g. e-learning), and institutional mobility (e.g. international branch campuses and foreign direct investments); an assessment of the possible effects of the General Agreement on Trade in Services (World Trade Organisation); and challenges facing these educational services as well as domestic post-secondary education systems in a context of growing internationalisation. The chapters are as follows: Cross-border education: an overview; Cross-border post-secondary education in North America; Cross-border post-secondary education in Europe; Cross-border post-secondary education in the Asia-Pacific region; Key development and policy rationales in cross-border post-secondary education; Implications of recent developments for access and equity, cost and funding, quality and capacity building. Show less