The document discusses findings from research on international engagement in higher education across European and other countries. It finds that countries with strong international education strategies and high national support for tertiary education attract substantial proportions of internationally mobile students. Countries with supportive policies for internationalization also produce high-impact research with greater international collaboration. There is an interdependence between international student mobility, research collaboration and quality, and transnational education policies. Countries that are hubs for student mobility have also become hubs for transnational education programs.

1. The Shape of Global Higher
Education in Europe
Janet B. Ilieva, PhD
Vangelis Tsiligiris, PhD
Pat Kilingley

2. Outline
▷ Study aims and objectives
▷ Implications for:
• International student mobility
• Transnational education (TNE)/International programme and provider
mobility (IPPM)
• Research collaborations
▷ Key findings and recommendations

3. Aims and objectives
▷ To collect and consistently evaluate national level policy data to assess the
openness of national higher education (HE) systems
▷ To develop and populate data for an additional set of metrics which
indicates the extent to which national governments are investing in
international relations through HE
▷ To analyse the policy and regulatory environment, together with national-
level investment data, and to provide a commentary on development of
international engagement through higher education

4. Structure of the national policies framework

5. Country coverage
European countries The Americas
Bulgaria Brazil
France Canada
Germany Chile
Greece Colombia
Ireland Mexico
Italy USA
Netherlands Benchmark countries
Poland Australia
Russia China
Spain India
UK
Details on countries’ policies for
engagement in international higher
education are available at
https://www.britishcouncil.org/education/ihe/kn
owledge-centre/global-landscape/global-gauge

6. About the context of this research
▷ Tertiary education students in Europe accounted for 19.6 million in 2016
▷ Europe hosted 40% of the globally mobile students in the same year
▷ Continued growth in internationally mobile students, but at a decelerated
rate

7. Question: What proportion of internationally mobile students
from Europe choose to study at a degree level in another
European country?

8. About 83% of the international students in
Europe were from another European country
(2016)

9. International education strategies This measure includes:
▷ Detailed international higher
education strategy and goals
▷ A dedicated body (or bodies)
promoting the internationalisation of
higher education (IHE)
▷ Overseas presence
(representative offices or
participation in conferences and
fairs)
▷ Increase in the number of bilateral
agreements with education
ministries on the topic of IHE over
the past 5 years
▷ IHE data collection and monitoring
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
1
Brazil
Canada
Chile
Colombia
Mexico
USA
Bulgaria
France
GermanyGreece
Ireland
Italy
Poland
Russia
Spain
The Netherlands
UK

10. Education promotion and national education brand
Country Education brand (if available) Ballpark promotion/IHE spending
# of int’l students
(latest year)
Approx. ed promotion spend (£) per int’l
student
Canada EduCanada
$ 3 million p.a.
(Approx. £1.691 million) 189,478 £9
Chile
2016 - $284M pesos
153.36 million from the government.
Approx. £177K 4,568 £39
China Studying in China
RMB 3.32 billion in 2018
Approx. £777.5 million 137,527
£5,650 (average scholarship spend per
student)
Germany
Study in Germany
– Land of ideas € 2 million p.a.
Approx. £1.725million 245,349 £7
Italy Uni-Italia
€ 2,132,579 in 2018
Approx. £1.84 million 92,655 £20
Mexico Scholarships for international students 25,125£660 (average scholarship spend per student)
Netherlands Study in Holland
€ 5,888,447 in 2018
Approx. £5.08 million 89,920 £56
Poland Go Poland
Promotion budget:
€450,544 Approx. £390,000
NAWA overall budget: €50 million Approx.
£43 million 54,734 £7
UK GREAT GBP 6 million p.a. 432,001 £14
US Study in the USA
US$ 12,518,000
Approx. £9.4 million 971,417 £10

11. International study destinations 1999

12. International study destinations 2016

13. Government expenditure on tertiary education and well-developed
international education strategy bring greater inbound mobility
Drawing on the experience of
20 countries, the evidence
suggests that nations that
attract a substantial
proportion of international
students (>8 international
students for every 100
students), have:
(i) a developed international
education strategy (a
national policy framework
(NPF) score of NPF>0.90);
and
(ii)robust funding for tertiary
education (>1.34% of
GDP).
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0.00
0.20
0.40
0.60
0.80
1.00
1.20
1.40
1.60
1.80
2.00
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2
Governmentexpendititureontertiaryeducationas%ofGDP
International Education Strategy (NPF score)
Bubble
size:
inbound
mobility
rate

14. Policy support for international student mobility

15. Policy support for academic mobility
and international research

16. Policy support for academic mobility and international research
▷ Many factors affect
research output
▷ Countries with higher
inbound mobility of int’l
students have a greater
proportion of their research
output produced in
international collaborations
▷ Strong positive relationship
between int’l research &
impact (measured by FWCI)

17. Dynamic relationship between research and mobility

18. Positive relationship between policy support for internationalisation and impact of
international research
Countries with
supportive policy
framework (e.g. > 0.6)
produce high-impact
research, in terms of
FWCI. All countries,
except one, with a
total NPF score of 0.6
have an FWCI of more
than 1. This means
that the research
produced in these
countries generates
citations above the
world’s average in the
particular subject
areas.

19. There is an interdependency between
different components of IHE

20. Countries and regions with significant inbound mobility rates
have also become hot spots for TNE/IPPM
Many of these countries are also regional hubs for
internationally mobile students

21. Question: Which one of the following European countries has
the best policy for transnational education engagement (inbound
and outbound transnational education programmes)?

22. Policy support for TNE/IPPM
Europe
Americas

23. Summary
▷ The global competition for talent is increasing
▷ Bilateral and multilateral agreements are a growing element in international education
strategies
▷ However, there are also indications that international education is becoming an important
consideration in countries’ foreign policy. More research is needed to quantify this
development
▷ Countries with high levels of national support for their international engagement also have
high inbound student mobility and produce high impact research
▷ Equally, there is a strong positive relationship between student mobility and quality of
research – an established research culture relies on competition for the best students
▷ This research highlights the underutilised potential of TNE/IPPM to support higher education
development agendas in countries seeking to improve their capacity. A better balance
between capacity building through research and through teaching is likely to provide a much
more effective and cost-efficient support to the diverse needs of higher education systems,
their learners and local communities.

24. Thanks!
Any questions?
You can find me at:
@JanetIlieva
Janet.Ilieva@EducationInsight.uk