The Expansion of Cross-Border Graduate Education in the Asia Pacific: Developmental and Financial Challenges

Abstract

Patterns of international study are changing with the rapid increase in higher education participation rates in the major source countries, with more students undertaking a first degree in their home country followed by graduate studies abroad. This chapter examines recent trends in cross-border graduate study in the Asia Pacific and considers the ways in which governments are able to influence students’ choices so that patterns of graduate mobility support broader developmental objectives. The chapter argues that the dominant models of financing cross-border education in the region limit the scale of cross-border mobility and overly restrict students’ choice of programs. Innovative forms of financing pioneered in Latin America that introduce public-private cost sharing for internationally mobile students present major opportunities for the region.