Rethinking the education–migration nexus: Germany’s accessible higher education as a path to flexible mobility for international students
Abstract
Germany is actively recruiting and retaining international students. Drawing on 123 interviews with non-EU students, this study examines why students choose Germany and how their post-study mobility decisions unfold. Affordability, the expansion of international programmes, and improved information access have made Germany highly attractive, making international education accessible to a broad range of students. Yet students’ pathways diversify: some return, some remain, and others move onward. By developing typologies of mobility, this study shows how individual aspirations, educational and social experiences, and structural conditions shape decisions, with Germany’s accessible education serving as a platform for more flexible mobility.
Fields of Study & Subjects
Higher Education Governance and Development
International Student and Expatriate Challenges
Global Education and Multiculturalism
Publication details
- Journal / source
- Journal of Immigrant & Refugee Studies
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Volume
- 24
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 355–368
- Publication date
- 3 April 2026
- Language
- EN