OECD Education at a Glance 2026: International Students Are More Concentrated at Master’s and Doctoral Levels
Analysis | 27 October 2026
OECD Education at a Glance 2026 reveals how student mobility differs across bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral education, with implications for policy.
An international education system shaped by degree level
International student mobility is often discussed as if every degree level follows the same pattern. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s Education at a Glance 2026 provides a more complex picture. In its analysis of new entrants to tertiary education across OECD countries in 2024, international students accounted for an average of 11 per cent of bachelor’s entrants, 24 per cent of master’s entrants and 34 per cent of doctoral entrants. That striking progression suggests that cross-border recruitment and research networks play very different roles across academic levels. The percentages are not estimates of the share of all students worldwide who move abroad; they refer to specific measures, years and reporting countries defined by the OECD.
Why advanced degrees attract international mobility
Students pursuing master’s and research degrees may cross borders for reasons that differ from those of first-degree applicants. Specialised laboratories, professional networks, funded research projects, a supervisor’s expertise and access to international scholarly communities can be decisive. Undergraduate students often have other constraints, including family preferences, recognition of school qualifications, language requirements and the ability to finance several years of tuition and living expenses. These factors can help interpret the OECD pattern, but the published figures alone do not prove which motivation dominates. Individual countries and institutions have quite different recruitment systems.
The STEM dimension of international education
The OECD reports that an average of 30 per cent of international graduates earned a degree in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, compared with 23 per cent of national graduates. This difference matters because STEM graduates are sometimes central to research funding, industrial innovation and skilled-work policy debates. But students should avoid a simplistic inference that a STEM degree automatically leads to employment or residency. Labour demand varies between occupations, sectors, regions and economic cycles. Licensing conditions, language ability, internship availability and immigration rules are external to the percentage cited in the report. The OECD figure is a system-level observation, not a personal job forecast.
A concentrated destination market
Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States hosted around half of the international students enrolled across the OECD in 2024, according to the report. This concentration helps explain why policy shifts in a relatively small number of countries can dominate global international education news. A change in visa rules, work rights or university funding in one of these destinations can influence students considering multiple markets. Yet these four countries are not the whole story. European, Asian and other education systems offer diverse programmes, language routes and costs. Students benefit from comparing several destinations instead of assuming that the most advertised one is automatically the right choice.
Gender patterns vary by level
The report also finds that women account for roughly 51 per cent of international bachelor’s new entrants and 52 per cent at master’s level, compared with 45 per cent at doctoral level on average across OECD countries. Those aggregate figures should not be used to label an individual campus or programme inclusive or exclusionary without further evidence. The subject mix, student support, research culture and safety of a particular destination remain important questions. Editors should be especially careful not to turn an observed participation gap into a claim about its causes without research that directly tests those explanations.
Why definitions make cross-country comparisons difficult
A vital methodological qualification sits beneath the headline numbers. The OECD primarily defines international students as people who moved from their country of origin for the purpose of study. Some countries instead report foreign students, identified by citizenship. These definitions can produce different counts. A foreign citizen who has lived in a country since childhood may not be an internationally mobile student, while a mobile student may later obtain another immigration status. Comparing countries without noticing these distinctions risks overstating differences in education export performance or the scale of movement across borders.
What prospective students can actually learn
For prospective students, the findings provide context rather than a ready-made destination ranking. A student searching for a bachelor’s programme should investigate the institution’s degree recognition, mentoring and first-year support. A master’s applicant may want to compare research infrastructure, funding, placements and links with industry. Doctoral candidates need especially detailed information about supervision, stipend conditions, publication expectations and the financial risks if funding ends early. Across all levels, reliable information about accommodation, healthcare, academic support and lawful work rights deserves as much attention as the prestige of the university.
Implications for universities and governments
The concentration of mobility at advanced levels raises strategic questions for policymakers. How can a country attract scholars while providing credible oversight of recruitment and adequate student services? Can universities accommodate international enrolment growth without squeezing housing supply, overpromising employment or weakening academic support? What happens when geopolitical or immigration conditions change quickly? The OECD data does not answer all of these questions, but it helps establish why evidence-based policy requires more than a headline about total student numbers. Universities should report educational outcomes with transparent definitions and avoid equating overseas recruitment volume with student success.
The problem with ‘international student boom’ headlines
Media coverage often describes ‘record’ numbers without explaining what was counted, when the data were collected or how different administrative sources relate to each other. A rising total may reflect genuine growth, a change in definitions or improved reporting. A smaller intake might stem from fewer applications, tighter admission requirements, visa processing delays or lower capacity. No single ranking or government announcement is enough to distinguish all these causes. The publication date of a report can also differ substantially from the year to which its underlying dataset refers. In this case, the OECD report was published in September 2026 but discusses several indicators relating to 2024.
What should be monitored next
Future reporting should follow the trajectories of master’s and doctoral participation, the mix of science and non-science disciplines, the financial experience of international students and changes in destination choice. Analysts should separate applications, approvals, enrolments and completed degrees. Those are different stages of the education journey. Where possible, research should also distinguish students who move across borders for an entire degree from those on shorter exchanges. Transparent definitions will produce more useful insight for policymakers, universities and students than sensational comparisons built from incompatible counts.
Our methodology
The Study Abroad Monitor based this report on the OECD’s official Education at a Glance 2026 chapter on international student mobility, released on 29 September 2026. Every percentage in the report is contextualised by its level of study, comparison group or reference year. The analysis is our own; it should not be attributed to the OECD as a recommendation about which degree or destination a student should choose.
Sources and methodology
- OECD Education at a Glance 2026: International student mobility chapter
- OECD Education at a Glance 2026 report
- UNESCO Institute for Statistics
Related reading: How to interpret university rankings; Understanding mobility data; Researching universities.
