Attracting students from outside the Union and retaining them in the EU labour market has become a policy priority for the European Union. The European Migration Network (EMN) carried out a study on the opportunities that the 25 EU Member States offer to international students.
In recent years, the number of international students in the EU has steadily increased. In 2017, the most popular destinations for students from third countries were United Kingdom, France and Germany. The most attractive Nordic EU Member State was Sweden, ranking in the 9th place, while Finland ranked 11th. The highest number of international students came from China, the United States and India. According to the study by EMN, almost half of all Member States consider attracting and retaining international students a policy priority.
“Students from third countries are generally considered important for future investment, economic growth and innovation. By successfully attracting and retaining international students, it is possible to increase the amount of qualified workforce, alleviate labour shortages in specific sectors and meet demographic challenges,” says Senior Adviser Rafael Bärlund of EMN Finland.
Tuition fees for third-country students tend to be higher compared to students from other countries. For this reason, international students are an economic asset to the universities as well.
In order to enter an EU Member State, an international student needs to have a student visa or a student residence permit, depending on the Member State. There are significant differences in application fees between EU Member States. The fees were the highest in Finland (EUR 300) and lowest in Malta (EUR 27.50).
The study found that the most common approaches to attracting international students included promotional activities such as dissemination of information, as well as scholarships and programmes available in the English language.
“In Finland, international students have traditionally valued the content of teaching, quality of research and the good reputation of Finnish universities. Challenges identified included the limited availability of courses taught in foreign languages, especially English, long processing times of applications for visas and residence permits, insufficient scholarship opportunities and student housing shortages,” Bärlund says.
Member States taking part in the study had established measures in order to facilitate entry into the national labour market following graduation while considering the needs of the local labour markets.
“According to the study, some factors that significantly contributed to attracting students did not necessarily benefit student retention. For example, programmes taught in English had a positive impact on the number of international students, but did not facilitate their long-term integration into the labour market. Identified challenges include providing favorable conditions to attract students whilst preventing the abuse of the student route for other migration purposes."
EMN Finland, Odysseus Network and European Policy Centre (EPC) are organising a two-day conference on migration, asylum and integration policies in conjunction with the Finnish Presidency of the European Union. The conference takes place in Finlandia Hall on 24–25 October 2019. The high-profile conference brings together international organisations, decision-makers, NGOs and academics to discuss the future of EU migration, asylum and integration for the next five-year period (2020–2024).
Background of the study
More information
Directive (EU) 2016/801 for students and researchers: https://publications.europa.eu/fi/publication-detail/-/publication/65b80366-1ede-11e6-86d0-01aa75ed71a1
European Migration Network (EMN)
The European Migration Network (EMN) is a research and information exchange network consisting of National Contact Points and members of national networks operating in EU Member States and Norway. The European Migration Network’s operations are coordinated by the European Commission. The objective of the European Migration Network is to provide up-to-date, objective, reliable and comparable information on migration and asylum, with a view to supporting policymaking in the European Union in these areas. Principal benefits of the EMN include analyzing the collected data and serving to provide politicians, authorities and the general public with such information.
Contact information
European Migration Network – EMN Finland
Senior Adviser Rafael Bärlund
Tel. +358 (0)295 433 022
E-mail: [email protected]
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