Changing geopolitics of higher education: economic effects of inbound international student mobility to Hungary

ABSTRACT

This article analyses the economic impact of inbound student mobility in Hungary. The research is based on an innovative approach not only showing the geoeconomic impact based on expenditures of the different groups of incoming students (Erasmus+, degree mobility of self-funded or scholarship holder students), but also links the data to specific sectors of the national and local economies. Thus, the paper reveals that international student mobility affects not only the internationalization of the higher education institutions or even the entire higher education sector, but also the wider macro environment, carrying geopolitical considerations. Based on the findings, a new aspect or “side effect” of the global and/or governmental “soft power” initiatives (e.g. Erasmus+, Belt and Road Initiative, Stipendium Hungaricum) can be identified in economic development. With the Hungarian case, the article intends to contribute to a better understanding of the changing geopolitics of higher education in the twenty-first century.

KEYWORDS:

• Geopolitics of higher education
• international student mobility
• student expenditure
• national economy
• soft power

Acknowledgments

The authors carried out the survey mentioned in the paper (entitled “Measuring the economic impact of inbound higher education mobility”) within the framework of the Stipendium Hungaricum programme, with the support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, upon request of the Tempus Public Foundation. The publication was supported by the University of Pécs, Szentágothai Research Centre, Research Centre of Historical and Political Geography and PADME Foundation.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. Proportion of individual target groups in the population in relation to the total base population.

2. Proportion of respondents in the target groups included in the questionnaire sample in light of the sample of the entire questionnaire.

3. Proportion of respondents for each target group in the sample in relation to the target group of the corresponding population.

4. Statistical number of foreign students with Stipendium Hungaricum scholarships, 2019/20 autumn semester, status as of 15 October 2019. Data source: FIR OSAP.

5. The number of self-funding students, without knowing any other source, was calculated on the basis of the FIR OSAP database of autumn 2019. During the calculation, we deducted the number of Stipendium Hungaricum programme from the total number of self-funding students in the FIR OSAP database, and we consider the remainder after deduction as the number of self-funding students.

6. Autumn 2019 data, source: TKA database.

i. In 2011, the Hungarian Parliament adopted Act CCIV of 2011 on National Higher Education and Act CXC of 2011 on National Public Education which set the legal framework for creating the programme. The declared “goal of the scholarship program is to give priority support to the studies of foreign students in Hungarian higher education institutions in order to implement intergovernmental education agreements. The details of the implementation of the scholarship program shall be governed by an agreement between the ministry headed by the Minister responsible for foreign policy and the competent ministry of the foreign partner in accordance with the provisions of this Regulation and the relevant intergovernmental agreement.” (see, Tarrósy & Vörös, 2019, p. 202) It is such agreements that shed light on the realities that are also present in the geopolitical sense, which also influence the thinking of higher education institutions and promote pragmatic decisions.