A huge study of 22,000 university students and professors carried out by Universia, the largest global network of Spanish and Portuguese speaking universities, has revealed that only 15% of students in Spain, Portugal and Latin America have studied in a foreign country.
Mexico is embarking on an ambitious strategy to boost the number of students it sends to the USA each year to 100,000 by 2018, and its aims received the endorsement of the USA in recent three-way trade talks with Canada. Proyecta 100,000 also aims to increase the number of US students in Mexico to 50,000.
US-based education company Bridge has announced it will expand into pathway programmes by opening four centres on university campuses in the US and Brazil, preparing international students for study at American universities.
Interregional mobility in the Americas got a boost this week with the announcement of 600 scholarships for masters or doctoral studies in science and engineering in Mexico. The funding will go to citizens of the Americas with 100 scholarships earmarked for students from Central America and the Caribbean.
Madrid-based Ideal Education Group (IEG), which runs Spanish language teaching brands Enforex and Don Quijote among others, has announced its acquisition of Academia Columbus, which is a three-strong brand of South American language schools, previously owned by the Thebing Travel Group.
Increasing student exchange between Mexico and the USA trumped drug trafficking and immigration on US President Barack Obama's agenda during his visit to Mexico last week. Mexico ranks 9th in places of origin of international students to the US, considerably lower than other big trade partners such as China and Canada.
Two British ministers are visiting Brazil, Mexico and Colombia this week in a bid to increase the low levels of academic exchange with these countries. Despite its vast population Brazil sent just 1,340 students to the UK in 2011-12. Colombia and Mexico sent 925 (45th) and 1,555 (32nd), again relatively low.
The Institute of international Education (IIE) has launched a series of university fairs in Latin America to help science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) students connect with US universities. The fairs will be held in America's top Latin markets, Brazil, Mexico and Chile. Some 41% of all foreign students in the US took STEM courses last year.
