It’s a Small World After All….Navigating Global Student Mobility

Recorded live at the 2025 ASU+GSV Summit in San Diego, this session featured Alejandro Caballero, Principal Education Specialist at the International Finance Corporation (IFC); Esther Benjamin, Chief Executive Officer & Executive Director at World Education Services; Jo Johnson, Executive Chairman at FutureLearn; Arnav Kumar, Co-Founder at Leap Finance; Meti Basiri, CEO & Co-Founder at ApplyBoard Inc; and Pamela Bates, COO at Shorelight.

The panel explored how global student mobility is reshaping higher education and becoming a critical export for countries around the world. In 2018, one in five graduate students were international; today, that number has grown to one in three. Despite an overall decline in graduate enrollment, the proportion of international students continues to rise. The session examined current trends in international student recruitment, financing, and retention, and discussed how institutions can remain competitive in attracting top talent globally.