The internationalisation of European higher education

Debates, policies, trends

The aim of this article is to analyse the major debates, policies and trends of internationalisation since about 1990, while also making reference to prior developments, and to discuss research on international aspects of higher education. International elements of higher education gained momentum in Europe in the late 1980s when short-term mobility spread through the ERASMUS programme. This made mobility a standard option and triggered systematic internationalisation strategies. Increased attention was paid to internationalisation and globalisation in the late 1990s, while the Bologna declaration called for structural reform both in order to make European higher education more attractive world-wide and to facilitate intra-European mobility. International activities, activities to promote European convergence in higher education systems, and nationally oriented activities have become so closely intertwined that it is now difficult to view internationalisation policies, strategies and trends as a domain of their own.