UNESCO Report indicates number of students studying outside their country tops 2.5 million
The Global Education Digest 2006* presents the latest education statistics from primary to tertiary levels in more than 200 countries. It also tracks the flows of foreign or mobile students. Mobile students are defined as those who study in foreign countries where they are not permanent residents. Between 1999 and 2004, the number of mobile students worldwide surged by 41 percent from 1.75 to 2.5 million, according to the Digest. This does not mean that more students are travelling. Rather it reflects the rapid expansion of higher education overall, with tertiary enrolments also increasing by about 40 percent during the same period.
- Website: http://www.uis.unesco.org/ev_en.php?ID=6513_201&ID2=DO_TOPIC

2 Agencies Announce Quality Controls (Aisha Labi, The Chronicle of Higher Education, December 6, 2005)
New quality-assurance guidelines for cross-border higher education were announced on Monday in Paris by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization.
The guidelines, which are voluntary, represent a pioneering attempt to create an international quality-assurance network in higher education. "This is the first time that two established global agencies have taken on an issue like this," said Peter Smith, assistant director general for education at Unesco, a United Nations agency. "Much more is going to happen in cross-border education than has happened already. This is just a starting point."
- Website: http://chronicle.com/weekly/v52/i17/17a04101.htm (full text available to subscribers only)

American Accreditors Go Abroad (Burton Bollag, The Chronicle of Higher Education, September 23, 2005)
Evaluators sent by accrediting organizations to measure how well colleges adhere to standards usually take with them a notepad and an open mind. Increasingly they must pack something else -- a passport. Although the numbers are still small, American groups are accrediting a growing number of institutions and programs outside the United States. The trend is posing new challenges for American accreditors, who are cautiously testing how broadly their standards can be applied in foreign countries.
- Website: http://chronicle.com/weekly/v52/i05/05a03601.htm (full text available to subscribers only)