Why global student mobility matters

According to an OECD survey, 3.5 million tertiary students studied abroad in 2011, a volume which is projected to double in the upcoming two decades. Global student mobility is one of the main consequences of globalization. The English-speaking universe is the dominant destination: the US, UK, Australia and Canada combined account for 40% of the world's international student population. From these 3.5 million global students, about 25% choose business studies. In just a few years, there will be around 1 million business students studying abroad. However, when it comes to top business degrees -defined as those for which a GMAT exam is necessary- these globally mobile population could be narrowed to about 50,000 students, or 5% of the whole business student population studying abroad. Having said that, with an average tuition of $50,000 in 2011, these 50,000 students could involve a market volume of $2.5 billion in a single year. If we considered the remaining 95% international business students, the volume would still be higher, though not proportional, because programs that not require a GMAT exam  would most likely have much lower tuition fees. All in all, global student mobility matters, and will increasingly matter. This is why developing a Global Business School MBA Index, which addresses specifically the international dimension, was a meaningful research, which hopefully will help out both students and schools.