By Brendan O'Malley. Given the great importance that most governments in Europe attribute to student and academic mobility in public statements, and the 1.5 million non-Europeans now studying in the region, it is remarkable how few have comprehensive and systematic mobility policies, a just-released study for the European Commission has found.
“With few exceptions, countries vaguely endorse mobility as a desirable activity and adopt a ‘the more the merrier’ approach,” the report says.
Mapping Mobility in the European Higher Area was released by the Academic Cooperation Association (ACA) last week, although submitted to the European Commission last June. It says Europe attracts far more foreign degree-seeking students than any other part of the world. Europe's global market share has even increased in the past decade, despite growing competition worldwide. Increasingly, foreign students in Europe come from other world regions.
But the striking differences that exist between individual European countries with regard to student mobility flows demand careful consideration when designing European-level mobility policies and instruments, the report argues. The study looks at mobility into, out of and between 32 European countries – the 27 European Union members, plus four European Free Trade Area countries and Turkey.
The number of European nationals from the 32 countries enrolled outside their country of nationality is considerably lower than those of foreign nationals studying in the Europe 32 zone. The total number of study abroad students in 2006-07 was 673,000, which is less than half the 1,507,000 foreign nationals studying in the Europe 32 countries during the same period. Study abroad by European grew between 1998-99 and 2006-07, but at 37.1% it is considerably below the proportion of foreign nationals studying in Europe.
In 2006-07, for every 1,000 students enrolled in their country of nationality, there were 33 nationals from that country studying abroad. But this average hides very important differences between countries. The extremes are Cyprus, where the majority of its citizens are enrolled abroad (1,380 abroad for every 1,000 at home), and the UK (12 abroad for every 1,000 in at home), where study abroad is a rare phenomenon.
Within countries the focus of policy statements is either on outgoing temporary mobility (19 countries), or on incoming diploma mobility (18). But outgoing degree mobility and incoming credit mobility play no role at all, the report says. Although the setting of quantitative targets is becoming more widespread, numerical targets are often still a little-understood concept and indicators are rarely precisely defined, the study says. Levels of mobility ambition vary strongly across Europe.
In terms of regional orientation, the EU-EEA is deemed the highest priority for most countries, especially those with a focus on temporary outgoing mobility. Neighbouring regions and parts of the world with old ties are also often mentioned, as are increasingly emerging countries such as Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRICs).
Graduate students are the favoured target group in incoming mobility. For outgoing mobility, the policies remain vague in terms of level of study. A wide range of measures is mentioned to facilitate and boost mobility, for example scholarship programmes, English-taught programmes, information and encouragement measures, marketing and promotion, recognition procedures and student services. But most countries remain somewhat vague on their reasons for wanting mobility, the report says.
Those with more palpable motivations mention an increase in the quality of education and in graduate employability. For incoming degree mobility ‘knowledge gains’ and related, economic reasons figure high. Skilled migration, internationalisation at home through more foreign students, development aid and foreign cultural policy are further rationales. The share of study abroad students in the Europe 32 area has even increased since 1998-99, from 82.2% to 85.5%.
But there is a lack of comparable data on the mobility of academic staff and researchers and even lack of agreement on the definition of who these people are. The study recommends improved collection of data on mobile scholars; doctoral awards; visits, exchanges and sabbaticals; and retrospective information on international mobility in the course of careers.
Among the obstacles to mobility cited by the report are:
* Lack of information on mobility opportunities.
* Low motivation levels or little interest in being mobile.
* Inadequate financial support.
* Foreign language skills deficiencies.
* Insufficient time or opportunity for international studies within the framework of an established curriculum or programme of study.
* Concerns about the quality of mobility experiences.
* Legal barriers (particularly relating to visas, immigration regulations, and work permits).
* Problems in gaining recognition for academic work completed abroad.
Incentives for mobility include:
* Financial support (mostly in the form of more money for individuals and-or mobility programmes).
* Curricular support through a variety of technical mechanisms (such as the implementation of the Diploma Supplement and ECTS) and innovative programming (including ‘mobility windows’).
* Personal support, especially in the form of guidance and counselling, to convince a wider range of individuals to take part and more consistently ensure a high quality mobility experience.
The study, having been commissioned by the European Commission, focuses its recommendations on action to be taken at the European level. But it warns that “given the very different aims of member states in mobility and the very different mobility levels and patterns in single countries – the main arena for intervention is the national level”.
For incoming degree mobility the ACA report recommends that a European-level target should be set of one in 10 students being incoming degree students. But it also recommends setting differentiated country growth targets.
“These growth targets would be higher for countries with currently low shares of incoming students, and lower for destinations with already high shares,” the report says.
On outgoing temporary – and mainly intra-European – student mobility, the study recommends continuing the present Erasmus programme relatively unchanged, by keeping it inclusive and open to all subject areas and levels of study and maintaining the emphasis on temporary mobility.
But Erasmus should be strengthened and funded to prioritise the creation of mobility windows and the application of robust recognition procedures. There should also be a quantitative target for outgoing temporary mobility in line with the Bologna target, but a definition of mobility must be applied that ensures serious minimum standards of duration and activity abroad.
Degree mobility should not count towards this target, but could be counted separately. Better support should be provided to encourage the temporary study of European students at selected high-class institutions in selected non-European countries, such as the BRICs.
The study was commissioned by the directorate general for education and culture, and conducted between October 2009 and June 2011. ACA coordinated the work, in close cooperation with Ulrich Teichler from INCHER-Kassel, two ACA member organisations (CampusFrance and DAAD) and the Hanover-based social science research institute Hochschul-Informations-System. The editors are Ulrich Teichler, Irina Ferencz and Bernd Wächter.

By Hans de Wit*. The year 2011 was a time of confusing and contradictory signals in the internationalisation of higher education. The OECD published data on increased international student mobility worldwide (3.7 million students) and the Institute of International Education and Council of Graduate Schools in the United States reported 5% growth in the number of international students going to America, with China and Saudi Arabia recording the biggest increases in mobility.
In Europe in 2011, the Academic Cooperation Association published an analysis of international students in 32 countries over the 2006-07 period indicating an all-time high of 1.5 million students. This made Europe the leading recipient of international students, with 50.9% worldwide and a larger number coming from outside Europe than from inside.
Canada also announced an increase in international students in 2011. And China, Japan, Singapore and Malaysia, for a long time primarily sending countries, are likely to become future leading destination countries.
Disturbing developments
But behind these booming figures and the prospect of ever-increasing numbers of students studying outside their home country in the years to come, there have been some critical and disturbing developments.
Australia, a benchmark over the past decades in attracting international students, faced serious threats to its leading position in China and India due to incidents, bad press and restrictive visa regulations.
By adopting, at the end of 2011, the recommendations of the Knight Review of the student visa programme, which addressed these problems, the government of Australia recognised the potential risks for its economy of international education, the country's second biggest export commodity. However, it might take years before the damage is repaired.
As a result of higher tuition fees and more severe visa regulations the UK, another leading country in attracting international students, risks losing a big part of its international student market (both European and non-European) and seeing an outflow of its own students to other countries.
In a third leading country, France, concern is rising about the impact of tighter rules of residence and employment for non-European students and graduates on the future number of international students. These measures are being applied precisely at a time when international student numbers have gone up, following joint initiatives by the government and the higher education sector in the past years. In the United States, an intense debate is taking place about the pros and cons and the ethics of universities and colleges using agents to try to maintain their share of increased international student recruitment.
In Canada, the federal government and provincial governments have taken a more active approach than ever in positioning Canada as a country of destination not only for students but also for skilled immigrants, with Australia as its main competitor and example. There is, however, concern about the risks of such an approach, in particular now that Australia is facing serious problems. And looming above all this, the dark clouds of the global economic crisis and of increasing political tensions in the world generate uncertainty about the future and how it will impact on higher education and student flows worldwide.
Questions for the future
Will higher education need to compensate for budget cuts by raising tuition fees for (inter)national students, a trend that is already taking place and might see higher rises in fees, as the UK's example shows?
Will students and their families still have the means to invest in study abroad when unemployment and study costs are on the rise? Or will governments take a long-term view and invest in higher education and the knowledge economy?
Based on these contradictory signals and the confusing times we are living in, one can ask if internationalisation as we know it is coming to an end, as Uwe Brandenburg and I did at the start of 2011 in a provocative essay in the newsletter International Higher Education, or whether it will continue to boom as the statistics seem to indicate.
Will the emerging economies in Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa make an even bigger leap forward in positioning themselves as future higher education providers in the world? The coming year might give an indication.
It is not likely that things will move fast, but there will be a definite trend in that direction. The leading position of North America will not drop that quickly. But Europe and Japan in particular might have more difficulty keeping their leading role than the other players: their economies face bigger challenges, budget cuts in higher education are more likely than investments, and there is more popular pressure against immigration, skilled or not.
Canada might be the country, among the traditional key players, that will benefit most from current developments. Its economy seems less affected by the current crisis, it is open to skilled immigration and attracting top talent, and its national and provincial governments as well as universities - after years of uncoordinated efforts and initiatives - seem to be ready to work together and position Canada as a suitable destination for study abroad.
At the same time, there is enough critical sense in Canada to avoid the danger of moving too far too fast. It might be this combination of a critical assessment of values and ethics and an entrepreneurial spirit that will set the tone for the year to come.
* Hans de Wit is professor of the internationalisation of higher education at the Centre for Applied Research in Economics and Management (CAREM) in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Email: j.w.m.de.wit@hva.nl.

By Jan Petter Myklebust. At least one in five higher education students should spend three months studying or training abroad by 2020, European Union member governments have agreed. Education ministers from the 27 member states last month adopted conclusions on the modernisation of higher education with a special emphasis on mobility.
They set 2020 as the target date by which an EU average of at least 20% of higher education graduates should have had a "period of higher education-related study or training (including work placement) abroad", representing a minimum of 15 European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS) credits "or lasting a minimum of three months".
The EU has been wrestling with the issue of higher education modernisation for many years, linking it to employability and a strategy for growth and jobs. Study and training periods abroad, to encourage cross-border cooperation and improve the quality of education and training, are one of the priority areas on the agenda. The main message from the Brussels council of ministers is that further modernisation is urgently needed. Higher education in Europe has increased in volume but financing, curricula and governance structures have not followed suit. In the global economy, the EU can only compete by increased competence and capacity for innovation.
The key question is how Europe, with 4,000 universities and higher education institutions, 19 million students and 1.5 million members of staff, can contribute more to growth, employment, innovation and welfare. The Bologna process for creating a European Higher Education Area (EHEA) has contributed to increased mobility, ministers said, but more has to be done. This is why they set concrete goals for increased mobility before 2020, to be backed up by special monitoring and a report-back before the end of 2015.
"Learning mobility can help improve the overall quality of education, especially through closer cooperation between educational institutions," the declaration stated. It can also "help to reinforce a sense of European identity and citizenship".
Ministers highlighted the following steps to strengthen mobility:

Tu as envie de partir dans un autre pays d’Europe pour étudier, faire un stage ou du volontariat?
Leonardo, Erasmus, Comenius... pour choisir un programme de mobilité, pas facile de s'y retrouver!
"Bouger en Europe: choisis ta mobilité" t'informe sur tous les dispositifs qui existent et te donne les clés pour préparer au mieux ton départ.
Lycéen, étudiant, apprenti... Choisis ton profil et laisse toi guider! Voir l'infographie.
Sommaire
L'Europe de l'éducation et de la formation.
L'enseignement supérieur dans l'UE.
Partir en Erasmus.
Passeport Mobilité des apprentis.
Etudier à l'étranger, pourquoi pas vous?
En tant que citoyen européen, vous pouvez partir faire vos études dans un autre pays de l'UE, de l'Espace économique européen mais également dans d'autres universités du monde entier. Découvrez toutes les informations pratiques pour réussir votre mobilité!
Rubrique spéciale "Partir en Erasmus"
Le programme Erasmus Mundus
Le programme Comenius
Faire ses études dans un autre pays européen
Obtenir une bourse pour étudier en Europe
Europass: le passeport pour étudier, se former et travailler en Europe
Faire reconnaître son diplôme par une université européenne

Ce dossier donne un éclairage sur le thème des mobilités professionnelles à travers la sélection, la capitalisation et l’organisation de différentes sources d’information sur le sujet (études, rapports, actions innovantes, informations juridiques). Télécharger le Dossier Mobilité Efigip.
Les variables de la mobilité professionnelle: La formation (p.11)
"Une grande diversité de stratégies de mobilités professionnelles après un CIF"
Les FONGECIF d'Alsace, de Bretagne et de Rhône-Alpes ont réalisé une étude sur les transitions professionnelles dans le but d'étudier les stratégies de mobilité mises en oeuvre par les salariés. Elle porte sur 5596 parcours de salariés bénéficiaires d'un congé individuel de formation. 2601 parcours ayant comme clef d'entrée commune les 13 métiers d'origine les plus souvent rencontrés dans les FONGECIF ont été plus finement analysés. Cette analyse révèle des stratégies de mobilités professionnelles selon l'âge, le sexe, le niveau de formation initial, l'ancienneté dans la vie active mais aussi selon les services dont les personnes ont pu bénéficier.
Source: L'étude - Observatoire des Transitions Professionnelles, 2010
L'impact du congé individuel de formation : une première évaluation nationale
Dans le cadre de sa mission d'animation du réseau des FONGECIF et du FAFTT, le Fonds paritaire de sécurisation des parcours professionnels conduira désormais chaque année une étude afin de mesurer l'impact du congé individuel de formation sur l'évolution des bénéficiaires de ce dispositif. La première enquête réalisée à l'échelle nationale porte sur les parcours achevés en 2009. Elle constitue le point de départ d'un baromètre annuel qui permettra d'analyser l'évolution des résultats au fil des années.
Source: FPSPP, 2011
"Un tiers des détenteurs d'un BTS ou d'un DUT quittent la région où ils ont suivi leur formation"
Bien qu'ayant des diplômes a priori bien ancrés dans les territoires et les tissus productifs, un tiers des détenteurs d'un BTS ou d'un DUT quittent la région où ils ont suivi leur formation. Ces mobilités les conduisent principalement vers trois destinations: l'Ile-de-France, Rhône-Alpes et les Pays-de-la-Loire. Elles permettent à certains d'améliorer une entrée difficile dans la vie active et sont pour d'autres un véritable tremplin en début de carrière.
Source: Pourquoi changer de région en début de vie active ? - la mobilité géographique des diplômés de BTS et DUT - Bref Céreq n° 210 - CEREQ, 2004
Sommaire.  Télécharger le Dossier Mobilité Efigip.
Les mobilités professionnelles
Les enjeux des mobilités.
Les variables de la mobilité professionnelle.
Les compétences au service des mobilités professionnelles.
Les politiques, mesures, dispositifs liés à la mobilité.
Les actions innovantes.
Les acteurs de la mobilité.
Bibliographie.
Glossaire. Télécharger le Dossier Mobilité Efigip.

36 universities from 24 countries gathered at the University of Marburg, Germany, on 26 and 27 October, to discuss the launch of the testing phase of a ‘Mobility Mapping Tool’, designed by EUA and partners to help institutions reflect on how different forms of mobility are captured, recorded, and strategically analysed at European universities.
Part of the project ‘Mapping University Mobility of Staff and Students’ (MAUNIMO), the tool has been under development by the project consortium, led by EUA and including the universities of Marburg, Swansea, Oslo and Trento, and will continue to be scrutinised and improved by the 32 additional pilot universities that were selected after an open call for interest to EUA membership.
The Marburg Induction Seminar was an occasion to consider the political pressures and frameworks to which the project is responding, which includes the 20% mobility benchmark of the Bologna Process; a new strategy for mobility in the European Higher Education Area - currently being prepared by the Bologna Follow Up Group; and European Union mobility targets and policy incentives under EU2020. Participating universities were given an opportunity to reflect on what their current institutional needs and challenges are when it comes to improving mobility, as well as what types of data they currently collect and why. The 36 universities will be testing the Mobility Mapping Tool in their universities over the next few months, and are offered an opportunity to stimulate internal discussions across different faculties, departments, offices and representatives groups.
MAUNIMO is co-funded by the Lifelong Learning Programme of the European Commission and will conclude in September 2012 with a dissemination conference in Oslo, Norway.

More than half of all foreign students worldwide are enrolled in Europe. Over the past nine years, their overall number has risen by over 80%, to more than 1.5 million. The main growth has been with non-European source countries, particularly in Asia. But about one quarter of these students have not been mobile – they lived already in their country of study, even though they held a foreign passport. And numbers of foreign students differ radically between European destinations. They are very high in Cyprus, the UK, Switzerland and Austria – but very low in Poland and Slovenia, for example. Outflows are also unevenly distributed – and go mainly to other European countries. Less than 15% of European study abroad students leave their own continent.
These are some headline findings of the new study Mapping mobility in European higher education, which has now been published electronically by the European Commission, for whom it was produced. It was written by ACA and INCHER (University of Kassel), in cooperation with ACA members DAAD and CampusFrance, as well as HIS (Hannover). Mapping mobility is a sequel to ACA’s landmark EURODATA study of 2006. Like EURODATA, it provides an in-depth and up-to-date account of student mobility into, out of and between 32 European countries. Importantly, it makes a distinction between foreign-nationality and genuinely mobile students, and between study for a whole degree (diploma mobility) and temporary (credit) mobility. The study also tracks the efforts of the international data collectors OECD, UNESCO and EUROSTAT in terms of differentiation and quality of mobility data, and it sums up the globally available knowledge on staff mobility. Next to providing an overview on all of these issues, the study includes in-depth case studies of 11 European countries.
Following on to the electronic publication, Mapping mobility will appear in book form in December of 2011, in the series Dok&Mat of ACA member DAAD. This publication will be available free of charge. We will alert readers of the ACA Newsletter – Education Europe once it appears. See also ACA wins LLP funding for two new projects.

Final Validation Conference, Tuesday 8th November 2011, University Foundation, Coimbra Group Office, Rue d'Egmont, 11 Egmontstraat, B- 1000 Brussels.
Final Validation Conference is organised by the University of Padova and the Coimbra Group Office, in close cooperation with the University of Bologna and the University of Deusto, the methodological partner CHE Consult, as well as all the EMQT partners, in the framework of the EMQT project, an LLP Structural Network.
During the Conference, the outcomes and results obtained in this two-year-project and consolidated in the “EMQT Quality Tools’ Box” will be presented to the audience, who will include a Validation Panel of selected Experts in the field of Erasmus Mobility and internationalisation.
On that occasion, the Validation Panel will be asked to express their opinion on the EMQT products, sent to them prior to the meeting. All other attendants will also be able to provide their input and feedback thanks to the interactive sessions which will take place in parallel with the closed meeting of the Validation Panel.
The EMQT Quality Tools’ Box, which comprises a Questionnaire, a General Mapping Report, Guidelines for good practice and a List of useful Indicators, will hopefully support European Higher Education institutions to self assess their overall quality in the students’exchange.
For any additional information or for downloading the registation form, please click below on the relevant link. Should you need any further clarification or should you have any specific request, please send an email to Sara Pittarello (sara.pittarello@unipd.it). We are looking forward to meeting all of you in Brussels! The EMQT Coordinating team, Luigi F. Donà dalle Rose and Sara Pittarello, University of Padova, on behalf of all partners of the EMQT network.  Invitation letter for the Final Validation Conference. Draft agenda for the Final Validation Conference. Registration form for the Final Validation Conference. Information on accommodation for the Final Validation Conference.

As part of the German Rectors’ Conference’s (HRK) “Project nexus”, an international conference titled “Promoting International Student Mobility – Awarding Credit for Coursework, Recognising University Degrees” will take place in Beethovenhalle, Bonn, Germany on 8-9 November 2011. Programme.
The conference will address current issues and challenges concerning credit transfer and degree recognition as well as possible solutions. The objectives are to promote “best practices in line with the Lisbon Recognition Convention and offer solutions to existing problems, thereby contributing to the improvement of international student mobility”.
Themes and Objectives of the Conference
The way students decide to spend one or more semesters studying abroad, or to pursue a master's degree abroad, depends on many factors. One such factor is whether or not the coursework completed during their studies abroad will be recognized for credit when they return to their home institutions.
The “Project nexus” conference will address various topics concerning credit transfer and degree recognition and present possible solutions. The objectives are to promote best practices in line with the Lisbon Recognition Convention and offer solutions to existing problems, thereby contributing to the improvement of international student mobility.
The following topics will be addressed:
>Reference systems for the comparison of learning outcomes
>European cooperation agreements regarding credit transfer
>The ECTS Label
>Recognition of coursework and examinations as an aspect of quality management
>Learning outcomes and quality assurance
>Degree recognition
>Legal frameworks

Portail des outils pratiques facilitant la mobilité internationale
Vous y trouverez des supports développés dans le cadre des programmes européens, et des sites utiles.
Tous les outils
OUTILS LINGUISTIQUES
Modules de formation(22)
Glossaires(12)
OUTILS PEDAGOGIQUES (pour stagiaires, candidats à la mobilité)
Preparation du stage(28)
Pendant le stage(10)
OUTILS PEDAGOGIQUES (pour collectivités territoriales, branches professionnelles, conseillers d'orientation européens)
Pour conseillers d'orientation(24)
Pour collectivites territoriales, branches professionnelles(10)
ASPECTS CULTURELS
Modules de connaissances culturelles(15)
RECONNAISSANCE ET TRANSPARENCE DES QUALIFICATIONS
Reconnaissance des diplômes(8)
Referentiels europeens de formation(19)
OUTILS PEDAGOGIQUES (pour Lycées, CFA, organismes de formation, associations de jeunesse)
Organisation de stages (23)
Organisation echanges jeunes(11)
BASES DE DONNEES STAGES/EMPLOIS/FORMATIONS
Stages en entreprises(11)
Emplois en europe(2)
Formations en europe(4)
OUTILS ADMINISTRATIFS
Conventions(14)
Reglementation/legislation(11)
CHARTES QUALITE
Chartes(5)
OUTILS PEDAGOGIQUES (pour entreprises, tuteurs)
Pour entreprises(21)
Pour tuteurs(27)
OUTILS DE SENSIBILISATION A LA MOBILITE
Impact de la mobilite sur les beneficiaires(5)
Portails, videos, plaquettes...(19)
Videos mobideveloppement(32).
PORTAILS OPERATEURS DE MOBILITE (6).