Number of international students growing fast
16 Sep 2008
The number of students studying abroad has risen enormously. The figure is now approaching three million. That is an increase of 50 per cent since 2000 and it is twice as many as in 1995.
These figures were revealed in the report Education at a Glance 2008 of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
Growing popularity
Higher education in general is steadily growing in popularity. Ten years ago 37 per cent of an age group continued their education, the proportion is now 57 per cent. Especially Finland and Poland show peaks, with the number of registrations in higher education doubling there.
The OECD is not surprised by this development, because higher educated people in many countries increasingly earn more and are in high demand in the employment market. But the rise in student numbers does result in pressure to spend more money on education and to increase efficiency.
Money versus quality
On average the OECD countries now spend a larger part of their budget on education. But the number of students in higher education usually grows faster than the financial resources, which could result in a deterioration in quality. The Netherlands is listed as one of the countries that spent less money per student over the past ten years.
Solutions
The OECD indicates that reactions to these developments are varied. Especially Scandinavian countries use public resources to cope with the increase. Others, like the United Kingdom and the United States, let the students pick up the bill. The OECD is concerned that there is also a group of European countries that no longer invest in higher education, but do not open up possibilities for applying private resources either.
The OECD does not merely call for more money to be spent on higher education. According to the organization a lot can also be gained from efficiency. If pre-university students are better informed when choosing a field of study, the fall-out - which is now at 31 per cent - can be reduced, meaning those costs can be saved. The OECD also believes there is room for improvement at the education institutions in the area of governance and financial management.
Source: Transfermagazine.nl (in Dutch)