Blended short-term student mobility is consolidating its role as an important instrument to make international learning more accessible for higher education students, according to a new study commissioned by the Finnish National Agency for Education.  

Within the Finnish context, long-term student mobility has declined in relative terms over the past decade, despite a growth in total student enrollment. At the same time, blended short-term mobility – which combines physical mobility with virtual or structured learning elements – has been growing steadily, attracting students interested in more specific academic programmes, as well as those who see it as a practical first step before committing to a longer stay abroad. 

Against this backdrop, the study, carried out by the University of Turku, examined the role, benefits and impact of short mobility periods in Finnish higher education.  

The findings suggest that study and traineeship periods abroad lasting less than three months can provide significant educational and internationalisation benefits. Almost 99% of Erasmus+ students who took part in short-term mobility between 2021 and 2025 said they had overall benefitted from the experience. Many highlighted improvements in cultural learning, interaction skills, teamwork, problem-solving and the ability to organise their own learning. 

In addition, the study seems to confirm that blended short-term mobility holds the potential to lower the threshold for students who might not otherwise take part in mobility. It’s widely recognised that students’ personal circumstances, financial considerations and work commitments can make longer exchanges more difficult to plan. Shorter, more flexible mobility formats can therefore help widen access to international experiences, especially for those who may have previously viewed studying or training abroad as unrealistic. 

The study is very timely as it feeds into a growing – yet still fragmented – body of research on the topic of blended mobility, seeking to address whether it effectively reaches students who would otherwise not engage in mobility, and what learning outcomes and skills are developed through these experiences. The Academic Cooperation Association warmly welcomes these findings, also in light of the ongoing TCA study “Mapping the benefits of blended mobility”, which seeks to provide answers to similar research questions, but through a cross-country angle involving student perspectives from Czechia, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, and the Netherlands (see ACA Newsletter – Education Europe, April 2026).