In addition to its multiple individual and institutional benefits, student mobility is also linked to financial and economic gains at country level. Research—particularly from Anglo-Saxon contexts—highlighted the economic contributions international students make through tuition fees and living expenditures on housing, food, local services, and leisure activities, as as well as broader knock-on effects. In continental Europe, there is growing interest in collecting evidence and assessing the socio-economic impact of international students, particularly those pursuing full degree programmes. Efforts to evaluate this impact encompass both one-off studies and more systematic and recurring assessments. This emerging body of work reflects a shared recognition of the need for robust, evidence-based narratives to articulate the economic value of international student mobility. 

To support further enquiry in this area, the Academic Cooperation Association (ACA) collaborated with several ACA members acting as National Agencies for Erasmus+: the Agency for Mobility and EU Programmes (AMEUP, Croatia), the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), the Tempus Public Foundation (TPF, Hungary), Tempus Fondacija (Serbia), and the Portuguese National Agency for Erasmus+. Together, they conducted a structured review of existing methodological approaches used to assess the financial and economic impacts of international student mobility, covering both full degree programmes and short-term mobility under Erasmus+.  

This report presents the findings of that review, summarising commonly used methodologies, identifying current limitations in evaluation practices, and opening a discussion on potential frameworks to strengthen future evidence-based policymaking. 

Read the study here.