The welcome mat isn’t always out for international students

In the professional world, international experience is more needed now than ever before. But global politics is making it difficult to study abroad.

Each year, Masaryk University in Czechia sends around 1,600 students abroad and receives more than 1,000 coming in.

“Mobility of students and staff, it’s one of the goals that we have to fulfil,” says Violeta Osouchová, director of the Centre for International Cooperation at Masaryk.

But international students are increasingly being entangled by broader migration politics and global conflicts. In many places, they are less welcome than a decade ago, even as global experience is more valuable than ever.

Education is about both measurable skills and the ability to work across cultures, said Osouchová.

She says even without travel, Masaryk has built “internationalization at home” into the curriculum through exposure to international staff, peers and English-language study.

The business of education

Global higher education has become increasingly commercialized, with international students now major economic contributors in countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada, said Philip Altbach, professor of higher education at Boston College.

In the U.S. alone, international students generate more than $40 billion a year, according to NAFSA, the Association of International Educators. “In the early days, international exchanges… were seen as soft power,” says Altbach. “That’s changed dramatically.”

The money is in having people come, not sending people out, Altbach says.

Simon Marginson, professor of higher education at the University of Bristol and the University of Oxford, said that governments are increasingly facing pressure to reduce migration, and international students are emerging as a group for policymakers to restrict.

That’s a big change. For decades, cross-border movement was widely accepted, but the world is starting to close up. “We’re now in a situation where migration resistance is almost normal,” he said.

Small schools struggle

The impacts are not equally shared. Altbach said that top institutions have remained stable, while smaller ones have been harder hit by policy changes, including visa caps. Institutions have little choice but to comply with government directives.

Study abroad has been on an upswing since the end of the pandemic in 2023, said Kevin Hayden, director of study abroad programs at Roger Williams University in Rhode Island, but generational differences are emerging in what students want compared with pre-COVID cohorts.

Students have an interest in global engagement, but many are looking to “dip their toe in the water,” Hayden said. This means shorter exchanges lasting weeks rather than entire semesters, with some students “stacking” these experiences over time.

There is also growing demand for off-campus studies closer to home. Hayden says his program has expanded domestic internships in Washington, D.C., as students look for opportunities beyond the classroom without travelling abroad.

This kind of hands-on programming, whether domestic or international, including placements with non-profits, government and industry, is proving popular among students who want practical field experience before graduation.

Academic possibilities and political realities

It’s a balancing act, says Jose Antonio de Pool Moran, international co-ordinator at Nord University in Norway. Geopolitical shocks, such as war and the pandemic, forced institutions to find new partners and new pathways while aligning with national policy and shifting political winds.

Sometimes this has meant ending long-standing partnerships with Russian institutions, despite their academic value, and redirecting student flows from Ukraine, de Pool said.

Public universities in Norway are non-profit, and the value of exchange is about expanding perspectives. Students can gain an international experience through collaboration with exchange students in the classroom, something difficult to achieve when society is relatively homogenous, he said.

And although outgoing flows may be small, the personal growth of those who go abroad can be profound. One student in particular comes to mind, de Pool said.

“Very shy, very quiet, but he was very keen on going on exchange,” he said.

The student decided on Taiwan, having never travelled so far. During the student’s stay, he experienced an earthquake and was bitten by a snake.

“He set up a meeting after he came back, and we hugged, because I was so worried for him — he had gone through so much,” de Pool says. But the student saw it differently. “This was the best experience of my life,” he told him.

This kind of change is common, says de Pool, even if it’s difficult to measure.

At a recent regional gathering in Asia, university representatives sat down over dinner to discuss new student exchange pathways linking smaller universities across North America, Europe, the United Kingdom, Australia and beyond. Their goal was to keep students moving smoothly across international borders.

But the conversation kept facing a new reality. Phones buzzed with flight cancellations as drone strikes disrupted airports across the Middle East. One representative fielded a call about a student whose travel plans were suddenly in jeopardy. Another waited on news as her own route through Doha, the capital of Qatar, had been cancelled.

The delegates mingled after dinner, making cautious plans and promises for the future. Invitations to visit were extended. One delegate was relieved to have booked passage back to Europe and that in a few hours she would be rushing to the airport for home.

Questions to consider:

1. What can a university student gain by studying in another country?

2. How can geopolitics interfere with a student’s ability to study abroad? 

3. If you were going to study in another country where would you choose to go and why?