1 in 4 students at Irish HEIs wants to study abroad at some stage
By Aoileann Ní Bhroin
More than 1 in four students enrolled in Irish higher education institutions intend to study abroad at some point in their academic careers. The finding was revealed in the Eurostudent Survey VI – Report on the Social and Living Conditions of Higher Education Students in Ireland (2016) published by the Higher Education Authority.
The Report states that 6% of those surveyed had already engaged in a learning period abroad while 26% indicate that they plan to undertake such a visit. The number is the highest since the Eurostudent series began.
At 43%, law students are the most likely to go abroad followed by humanities and arts at 41%.
Learning mobility is largely an undergraduate activity with 67% pursuing awards at Level 7 and 8 with only 1% of Ph.D students internationally mobile.
Erasmus is the main player in this area with 60% of respondents stating that their mobility was organised under the EU programme. Significantly 21% organised their own mobility with 19% being supported an another programme. The level of recognition varied with 87% of Erasmus students saying their studies were recognised fully or in part compared to 73% for the Other Programme category and 48% from the independently cohort.
The top 5 destinations for students from Ireland according the Eurostudent Survey were France, the UK, the USA, Germany and Spain with 74% studying in Europe.
