This study is an attempt to bridge the divide between the international education community and the international trade community, by identifying where education overlaps with the four primary delivery modes of services trade. Higher education services have emerged as an important and growing component of many nations’ economic strategies, with recent estimates placing the sectors’ market above $1 trillion. Despite cross border higher education (CBHE) featuring increasingly in many country’s trade portfolio, this does not appear to have resulted in an equivalent increase in the interaction between education and the trade policy communities. This lack of interaction results in many lost opportunities to use trade and economic development resources to advance international education efforts, and vice-versa.
Higher education is more critical than ever in determining a country’s economic development and standards of living. Knowledge and innovation are increasingly important to the economic competitiveness of a nation. Higher education services have thus emerged as an important and growing component of many nations’ economic strategies. Recent estimates place the value of the global higher education market above $1 trillion including both domestic and international expenditures.
Moreover, higher education has also become increasingly internationalized. It is a form of international trade in its own right, with colleges and universities having a growing number of students, faculty, research projects, academic programs, and physical facilities transcending national borders. Despite cross border higher education (CBHE) featuring increasingly in many country’s trade portfolio, this does not appear to have resulted in an equivalent increase in the interaction between education and the trade policy communities. This lack of interaction results in many lost opportunities to use trade and economic development resources to advance international education efforts, and vice-versa. The purpose of this paper is to begin to bridge the divide between the international education community and the international trade community. The paper shows where education overlaps with the four primary modes of trade: 1) cross-border supply (e.g., online delivery to students in another country), 2) consumption abroad (e.g., student mobility); 3) commercial presence (e.g., international branch campuses or study abroad locations); and 4) presence of natural persons (e.g., faculty members traveling overseas to teach a class). Each of these activities can be regulated, often unbeknownst to educators, by trade agreements between countries.
Examples are provided from the perspective of four prominent issues in higher education: authorization, curriculum & academic freedom, finance, and quality assurance. The paper then turns to the economic value of cross-border higher education, focusing on student and campus mobility, education-related revenue for trade in services, and foreign direct investment. A set of conclusions are presented that could serve as potential points of intersection between the trade and education communities.