Destination cities of European exchange students

TY - JOUR

T1 - Destination cities of European exchange students

AU - Van Mol, C.

AU - Ekamper, P.

PY - 2016

Y1 - 2016

N2 - The Erasmus programme is generally considered the flagship of intra-European exchange programmes in higher education, with more than three million participants since 1987. Whereas a number of studies investigated the determinants of student mobility decisions, no knowledge exists on the main destination cities of European exchange students. Our research note aims at filling this gap in the academic literature. Making use of a unique data-set from the European Commission containing micro-level data on the full population of Erasmus students for study purposes in 2012–2013 (n = 211,267), we provide a descriptive overview of the spatial distribution of Erasmus students at the city level. The results reveal that European exchange students are mainly attracted by capitals and second-tier metropolitan cities. Furthermore, the analysis reveals significant variation regarding the main region of origin of mobile students within most destination countries.

AB - The Erasmus programme is generally considered the flagship of intra-European exchange programmes in higher education, with more than three million participants since 1987. Whereas a number of studies investigated the determinants of student mobility decisions, no knowledge exists on the main destination cities of European exchange students. Our research note aims at filling this gap in the academic literature. Making use of a unique data-set from the European Commission containing micro-level data on the full population of Erasmus students for study purposes in 2012–2013 (n = 211,267), we provide a descriptive overview of the spatial distribution of Erasmus students at the city level. The results reveal that European exchange students are mainly attracted by capitals and second-tier metropolitan cities. Furthermore, the analysis reveals significant variation regarding the main region of origin of mobile students within most destination countries.

KW - Erasmus student mobility

KW - destination choices

KW - cities

KW - spatial distribution

KW - European Union

KW - SSCI

U2 - 10.1080/00167223.2015.1136229

DO - 10.1080/00167223.2015.1136229

M3 - Article

SN - 0016-7223

VL - 116

SP - 85

EP - 91

JO - Geografisk Tidsskrift-Danish Journal of Geography

JF - Geografisk Tidsskrift-Danish Journal of Geography

IS - 1

ER -