Studies and Analyses

After decades of liberalization of trade and capital, in the beginning of the new millennia, the focus is placed on the liberalization of movement of labor.  These developments favor the mobility of young people in search of education and jobs outside of their birth countries. At the same time, these trends are also recognized as a tool for transfer of knowledge and skills across the nations favoring a more equal distribution of global wealth. The future looks promising, and yet distant, as many times, the international mobility of young people is challenged by the access to finances.

Today there is an emergence of two different paradigms when it comes to the role of higher education providers in the society. The first one, mainly present in the Anglo-Saxon countries (UK, US) perceives the higher education from a market point of view where students are recognized as the creators of demand.  As a result, the cost of the Higher education is predominantly borne by the students, while the highest burden is placed on the shoulders of the international students.The US and the UK higher education systems are the main proponents of this paradigm. As a result, the available financial mechanisms for supporting international mobility of students in these countries are limited. 

In contrast, the EU brings a new paradigm of the role of higher education institutions in the society, while current data support the sustainability and longevity of this paradigm. This paradigm sees students as the material, which is transformed during the process of higher education.  Students are not the market; they are the product, while the market is the employers, the society at a large. The strong state support of the higher education in almost all EU countries accompanied with the Bologna process and the mechanisms under Erasmus + programme, remove many of the obstacles for financing the international mobility of students. Data indicate that these mechanisms are effective; the main issue however is, whether the product, i.e. the student skills meets the demand of employers.

CKM report on the global trends of the international mobility of students can be downloaded from the following link.