Student mobility can be classified into two groups: full-time mobility when the entire study programme is covered abroad and short-term mobility which means that the student is residing abroad one or two study semesters. Short-term mobility is most often implemented via support programmes and using grants for studies abroad. Full-time mobility, in turn, is equivalent to paid or scholarship studies abroad. At the European level, student mobility is associated with both economic and cultural benefits as it facilitates the personal development of an individual and results in a higher language proficiency, thereby, naturally, improving the individual's competitiveness on the international labour market.

OECD statistics suggest that in 2011 almost 4.3 million students were enrolled outside their countries of citizenship, which is two times more than in 2000 when 2.1 million students were involved in mobility programmes. Australia, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, New Zealand and Austria had the highest percentages of international students in 2011. Asian students represented 53% of foreign students enrolled worldwide, with the largest numbers of foreign students coming from China, India and Korea. The largest fall in the number of foreign students was experienced by the USA: a decline from 23% to 18% of the total number of foreign students world-wide in the period from 2000 to 2009. The biggest rise within the same period was observed in Australia, New Zealand and Russia (an increase of 2%).

Global student mobility was facilitated by diverse factors, starting from the rapidly growing demand for higher education throughout the world up to even region-specific policies. The value added associated with enrolment at a top-level prestigious higher education institution abroad also had an important role to play. In addition to that, there are also ambitious campaigns developed by some countries and institutions, aiming at attracting foreign students. For example, several OECD countries (Australia, Canada, Finland, France, New Zealand and Norway) have reviewed their immigration policies with a view to increasing the number of foreign students. Students mention that the most significant factors determining their choice of mobility destinations relate to the language (of training and/or spoken by the population), programme quality (based on individual criteria, references or rating systems), tuition fees (comparison of tuition fees and scholarships across several countries) and the national immigration policy.[1]

According to the data by the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Latvia, the number of students involved in short-term mobility programmes has increased gradually in Latvia, while the most popular destinations have remained unchanged. The following numbers of students were involved in mobility programmes from Latvia: 1 540 students in 2010, 1 684 students in 2011 and 1 883
students in 2012.[2] The most popular destinations for students from Latvia were Germany, Sweden, Denmark, France, the Netherlands and Lithuania. Due to economical and geopolitical considerations, students from Latvia mostly give preference to short-term mobility to euro area countries. The largest numbers of students come to Latvia from Germany, Russia, Lithuania and the Ukraine. During the last two years, the numbers of foreign students from Uzbekistan and India have also increased considerably in Latvia's higher education institutions. In 2012, foreign students constituted 4% of all students in Latvia, and the percentage has doubled within the last two years. It has to be noted that students arriving to Latvia from non-euro area countries usually have selected long-term mobility. This has been facilitated by Latvia's participation in the European Union, accessibility of education and the quality of studies in comparison with the local opportunities of the foreign students.

The Council of the European Union agreed on a future student mobility vision in November 2011: "By 2020, an EU average of at least 20 % of higher education graduates should have had a period of higher education-related study or training (including work placements) abroad, representing a minimum of 15 ECTS credits or lasting a minimum of three months".[3] Education and training are also the key elements of Europe 2020 strategy, including reforms and development plans in this field. It is planned that in 2014 the new European Commission's programme for education, training, youth and sport, Erasmus for All, will become operational. This programme is consistent with Europe 2020 strategy and will combine into one programme several currently running EU support programmes (including Comenius, Leonardo da Vinci, Grundtvig, Erasmus, Jean Monnet, transversal sub-programmes, Erasmus Mundus, Tempus), replacing all those programmes with one centralized programme. Programme will be operational from 2014 to 2020. The new programme is scheduled to be approved at the end of the third quarter of 2013, and it will provide mobility opportunities to about 5 million people. At the moment Erasmus for All is still in the agreement stage: it has not been approved by the Member States of the European Parliament. This means that the programme may still change as a result of the process of agreement and discussions.

The available research and data in Europe suggest that the most common obstacles to student mobility are financial problems or insufficient language proficiency, yet the impact incurred and the consequences require further examination: consequently, there are many questions requiring answers. Most of the research attempts include survey data and information obtained from students with existing or past mobility experience and not from students studying in their country of origin who have not had any study experience abroad.[4]

FYI (2): Dynamic University infogram "Student mobiliy in 2011/2012 in Latvia ", developed based on data from the Ministry of Education and Science.

FYI (3): Europe 2020.