Education Diplomacy & Alumni Networks

3rd century BC · roughly 2,300 years ago

The Library of Alexandria drew scholars from across the Mediterranean and Near East

Founded under the Ptolemaic dynasty in Egypt, the library and its associated research institute supported scholars working on mathematics, astronomy, medicine and geography, funded by the state specifically to attract talent from beyond Egypt's borders.

5th century CE · roughly 1,600 years ago

Nalanda grew into Asia's foremost centre of Buddhist learning

The monastic university in present-day Bihar drew thousands of monks and students from China, Korea, Tibet and South East Asia, who travelled overland and by sea to study philosophy, logic, medicine and astronomy for the best part of a millennium.

• Nalanda was destroyed in the late twelfth century

7th century · roughly 1,400 years ago

Japan sent official missions and students to Tang dynasty China

Missions carrying monks and students to Chang'an studied Chinese law, administration, Buddhism and writing systems over some two centuries, transmitting institutions and ideas that shaped Japanese statecraft and culture during the Nara and Heian periods.

859 · 1,167 years ago

Fatima al-Fihri founded al-Qarawiyyin in Fez

The institution, founded by a wealthy merchant's daughter, grew into a centre of learning that drew scholars from across North Africa and Muslim Spain and is regarded by some historians as the oldest existing degree-granting university in the world.

1088 · 938 years ago

The University of Bologna organised its foreign students into self-governing nations

Widely regarded as the oldest continuously operating university in the Western world, Bologna attracted students from across Europe, who organised themselves by nation of origin to negotiate rights and privileges with the city, an early institutional model for managing large-scale foreign student populations.

1902 · 124 years ago

Cecil Rhodes' estate endowed the Rhodes Scholarship at Oxford

A bequest from the mining magnate's fortune funded scholarships bringing students, initially from the British Empire, the United States and Germany, to study at Oxford, making it one of the oldest and most prominent international scholarship schemes, though one later scrutinised for its colonial-era origins.

1908 · 118 years ago

The United States redirected Boxer Rebellion indemnity funds into scholarships for Chinese students

Washington used part of the reparations owed after the 1900 Boxer Rebellion to fund Chinese students studying in America instead, a decision that led to the founding of a preparatory school in Beijing that later became Tsinghua University.

1940s · 86 years ago

Student exchange programmes became popular after World War II as a tool of cross-cultural understanding

Following the Second World War, student exchanges grew in popularity, motivated by the aim of increasing participants' understanding and tolerance of other cultures. They were also promoted as a means of improving language skills and broadening social horizons, establishing the modern rationale for the capability.

1946 · 80 years ago

The United States Congress created the Fulbright Program

Senator J. William Fulbright's legislation used proceeds from the sale of surplus war property to fund international academic exchange, establishing a model of using government funds for two-way scholarly mobility that many other countries later copied.

• Hundreds of thousands of alumni have taken part since the programme began

1950 · 76 years ago

The Colombo Plan began coordinating scholarships across the Commonwealth and Asia

Agreed by Commonwealth foreign ministers meeting in Ceylon, the plan funded technical training and university places for students from newly independent Asian countries, becoming one of the first large multilateral vehicles for South-facing academic exchange rather than purely colonial patterns of study.

1987 · 39 years ago

The European Community launched the Erasmus student exchange programme

The scheme funded students to spend part of their degree studying at a university in another member state, and it grew over subsequent decades into one of the world's largest state-funded mobility programmes, later renamed Erasmus+ and widened to non-European partners.

1990s · 36 years ago

Student exchange programmes expanded further after the end of the Cold War

The close of the Cold War brought a further increase in student exchange activity as barriers to movement between blocs fell. This widened the pool of participating countries and institutions available for partnership.

2025 · last year

Turkey continued expanding its Türkiye Scholarships programme for foreign students

The state scholarship scheme, which funds thousands of international students each year at Turkish universities, drew large numbers of applicants from Africa, Central Asia and the Balkans, part of Ankara's wider use of higher education as a soft-power tool.

2025 · last year

The United Kingdom reviewed its post-study work visa as part of a wider immigration overhaul

An immigration white paper proposed shortening the Graduate visa route that allows international students to work after finishing their degrees, part of a broader push to reduce net migration that alarmed universities reliant on overseas tuition fees.

2025 · last year

The United States government tightened visa screening and revoked status for some international students

The State Department increased vetting of student visa applicants, including scrutiny of social media activity, and briefly terminated the immigration status of a number of students before some terminations were reversed following legal challenges.

• Universities reported falling international applications

2025 · last year

Canada extended caps on international study permits through 2026

Ottawa maintained restrictions on new study permits first introduced in 2024 as part of its multi-year immigration levels plan, reducing overall intake and disproportionately affecting applicants from India, which had supplied the largest share of the country's international students.

• Indian students shifted some applications toward alternative destinations

2024 · 2 years ago

China pledged more scholarships and training places for African students

At the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation summit in Beijing in September, China announced further training and scholarship commitments for African students and officials, continuing a pipeline that has made it one of the continent's largest hosts of international students.

• African students in China already numbered among the largest foreign cohorts of any non-African host

2024–2025 · last year

Universities across Africa and Asia expanded virtual exchange programmes linking classrooms abroad

More institutions adopted Collaborative Online International Learning formats, pairing classes with partner universities overseas for joint projects conducted remotely, a lower-cost complement to physical mobility that grew fastest where travel costs or visa barriers were highest.

2024–2025 · last year

India continued to host new foreign university campuses under a 2023 regulatory opening

Building on rule changes that let overseas universities operate directly in India, additional foreign institutions moved to open campuses in hubs such as Gujarat's GIFT City, an alternative to sending students abroad that the government actively encouraged.

2024–2025 · last year

The United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia kept attracting foreign university branch campuses

More overseas universities opened or expanded branch campuses in Gulf education hubs such as Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Riyadh, part of a strategy to build regional higher-education centres and reduce reliance on scholarships that send students abroad.

2024–2025 · last year

Australia raised student visa fees and tightened financial-capacity checks

After a proposed legislative cap on international enrolments failed to pass parliament, the government instead used higher application fees and stricter assessment of applicants' financial and academic credentials to slow growth in student numbers.

2024–2025 · last year

The European Union expanded Erasmus+ support for Ukrainian students and researchers

Brussels widened access to its Erasmus+ mobility programme for Ukrainian universities and individuals displaced by the war, funding places at institutions across the bloc and supporting new partnerships between Ukrainian and European universities.

1998 · 28 years ago

US students on a college-sponsored trip in Guatemala were attacked in the Santa Lucía Cotzumalguapa attack

A group of American students travelling in Guatemala on a college-sponsored trip were robbed, harassed and threatened near Santa Lucía Cotzumalguapa, and five of the young women were raped. The incident highlighted the security risks institutions assume when sending students abroad.