Benefits and costs of international student mobility, A comparison between Chinese and Indian students in Germany

International mobility of students has increased tremendously over the last decade. At the same time the share of “frequent movers” has expanded. Under the conditions of a stiff global competition for highly qualified labour force, strategies of attracting and keeping the elite of these students are high on the political agenda of most countries. This raises questions about the benefits of this mobility. Looking closer at the national sub-groups shows, that the answers to these questions are nation-specific. The contribution approaches them by comparing Indian and Chinese international students in Germany, one of the countries which undertake strong efforts to retain specific human capital within its borders. The investigation presented is based on a literature review and pilot surveys among students. Preliminary results suggest that while India supplies comparatively few students, their transferred human capital is at a high level, as they cluster in master, post-graduate, PhD and post-doc programs. Chinese students are larger in number, and are mostly found at lower studies levels. Third countries, first of all the U.S. reap a comparatively high share of the investment done in the countries of origin as well as in the countries of follow-up studies.