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This paper employs both descriptive and comparative approaches to offer a comprehensive overview of the migration of international higher education students to Germany. It presents an in-depth and recent analysis of international student migration, utilising secondary data from UNESCO on global student mobility in tertiary education and statistics from German institutions on international students in Germany. This study contributes to existing literature by examining migration trends from the perspective of Germany as a receiving country and discussing migration patterns from various global regions. As Germany is one of the most popular destinations for international study, this paper adds valuable insights into the growing intersection of migration and the internationalisation of higher education. Furthermore, it highlights the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on international student migration to Germany. The paper explores five key hypotheses: the first hypothesis examines the substantial increase in international student migration to Germany between 2000 and 2023, with considerable regional variation in distribution. The second hypothesis addresses the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on international student migration flows to Germany in 2019-2020. The third hypothesis identifies the pull factors driving the increasing trend of international student migration, including economic incentives (such as low or no tuition fees, scholarships, and employment prospects), educational opportunities (such as high-quality institutions and research focus), and other factors. The fourth hypothesis explores the mixed impacts of international student migration, such as knowledge transfer, brain gain, and skill acquisition for return migrants, but also brain drain for non-return migrants. Finally, the fifth hypothesis investigates how the integration of international students into Germany's labour market benefits the country’s economy.
This paper uses both the descriptive and comparative approaches to provide an overview of migration of international students to Fulda University of Applied Sciences as a case study of Germany universities. This paper presents an in-depth analysis of migration of international students in Fulda University of Applied Sciences using secondary data on international students in Fulda University of Applied Sciences that obtained from the international office and marketing department at the international office in Fulda University of Applied Sciences. We add to the existing studies in the international literature by presenting an interesting analysis of migration of international students in Fulda University of Applied Sciences as a case study of German universities. An interesting element in our analysis is that we examine migration of international students in Fulda University of Applied Sciences compared to Germany universities. Therefore, we provide an extremely valuable contribution to the increasing debate in the international literature concerning the increasing interaction between migration and increasing internationalisation of higher education in Germany. We provide new contribution by showing the impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on migrations of international higher education students to Fulda University of Applied Sciences. We examine the first hypothesis that consistent with all German universities the pattern and size of migration of international students to Fulda University of Applied Sciences increased substantially over the period (2008-2023) but the distribution showed considerable variation over the period (2008-2023). We investigate the second hypothesis that consistent with all German universities the COVID-19 Pandemic has not affected the flow of migration of international students to Fulda University of Applied Sciences (2019-2020). We find that the international students make 19.5% of total students studying in Fulda University of Applied Sciences 2023, while the international students make 16% of total students studying in German universities, 2022/23. We show that the share of international students in Fulda University of Applied Sciences (which is nearly fifth of all students studying in Fulda University of Applied Sciences (19.5%)), is above the standard rate for all German universities (16%). We find that consistent with all German universities in Fulda University of Applied Sciences, despite the fact that more than half of international students coming from ten key top countries, however, the diversity is demonstrated from the fact that the international students coming from a wider range of countries.
A unique aspect of our analysis is the presentation of a new case study on migrant international higher education students at Fulda University of Applied Sciences. This study utilizes new primary data from a short survey examining the migration patterns of international students. The survey analysed the distribution of international students at Fulda University of Applied Sciences, focusing on their regions and countries of origin, fields of study, backgrounds, motivations, challenges, and recommendations for improving the international student experience at Fulda University of Applied Sciences and in Germany overall. The survey results at Fulda University of Applied Sciences align closely with trends observed across German universities regarding international students.
