Internationalization of higher education in Chile

International student mobility at the University of La Frontera

Abstract

Higher education as an export service is represented in the four models of education provision that have been established by the General Agreement on Trade in Services. The most notorious of these four models is the phenomenon of international student mobility. There is little understanding of the dynamics of the internationalization of higher education, despite its rapid growth in the last two decades. In Chile, foreign students tripled in the first decade of the century. This research aims to analyze the international mobility of undergraduates at the University of La Frontera (UFRO), through the use of an exploratory qualitative methodology. Case analysis was conducted through field visits, in-depth interviews for primary data collection and analysis of institutional and secondary data source. The results show that the institution is in the passive indirect export stage and has experienced improvements in its balance of international student mobility. The number of self-funded students that went abroad increased 32% in 2012. Their main destination was Europe, although Latin America has been increasing its stake gradually. Europe is also the main source of foreign students, doubling their numbers between 2010 and 2012.