International student mobility and highly skilled migration: a comparative study of Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom

Against the backdrop of demographic change and economic reconfiguration, recruiting international students, especially those at tertiary level, has drawn growing attention from advanced economies as part of a broad strategy to manage highly skilled migration. This comparative study focuses on three English speaking countries receiving international students: Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom. International student policies, in particular entry and immigration regulations, and the trends in student mobility since the late 1990s are examined drawing on secondary data. By exploring the issue from the political economy perspectives, this study identifies distinct national strategies for managing student mobility, determines key factors shaping the environment of student migration in each nation, and addresses the deficiency of human capital theory in the analysis of global competition for high skills. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/2193-1801-2-132) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.