A falling school-age population in Europe and the rising popularity of East Asian universities means English universities will have to reconsider their recruitment strategies, writes Janet Ilieva.
International demand for higher education is booming. As the global economy picks up and ever more children receive a good schooling, greater numbers seek a university education abroad. The OECD reckons that more than 4.5 million attended university outside their country of origin in 2012, up from 2.1 million in 2000. The UK is currently the second most popular destination, taking 13 per cent of the total market share. Unfortunately the future looks uncertain.
The growth of the aspiring middle class, to which Simon Marginson of the UCL Institute of Education ascribes the increased domestic demand for higher education, conceals another trend. Although there has been a strong rise in the internationally mobile student population, the world’s outward mobility rate (the proportion of students studying abroad) has remained almost unchanged at 2 per cent over the past decade.
This article on Research Professional News is only available to Research Professional or Pivot-RP users.
Research Professional users can log in and view the article via this link
Pivot-RP users can log in and view the article via this link.