National approaches to internationalisation – strategic and varied
Roughly 15 years ago, Hans de Wit noted that internationalisation in European higher education had developed “from a marginal point of interest to a central factor” (de Wit, 2011). As we near the end of 2025, we see that internationalisation is considered by many to be a strategic tool not only for enhancing academic quality and competitiveness, but also for responding to broader social, economic, and geopolitical shifts. In internationalisation’s evolution from ‘nice-to-have’ to must-have, the focus on strategic approaches to internationalisation has also intensified.
In the evolving landscape across the European Higher Education Area (EHEA), national strategies and policies for internationalisation are playing a pivotal role in shaping institutional priorities, cross-border collaboration, and global engagement. These strategic approaches take many forms. There are all-encompassing strategies supported and co-developed by multiple stakeholders. There are cases where national strategies have expired, but where their components still provide a red thread guiding all national internationalisation work. And there are countries with no national policy whatsoever but where highly autonomous higher education institutions essentially set the ‘national’ course. The landscape is broad and varied.
A current snapshot of national policies and strategies
Noting a gap in current and easily accessible information about such policies and strategies, and with a shared interest in raising the level of awareness about these efforts, the Academic Cooperation Association (ACA) and the European Association for International Education (EAIE) joined forces to undertake the National Policies for Internationalisation Project (NAP). The aim of this exercise was to produce a current snapshot of national strategies and
policy frameworks for internationalisation of higher education, capturing both the diversity of national approaches and the evolving policy landscape shaping internationalisation as of 2025. Recently, the full research report, titled Mapping the internationalisation strategy landscape across the EHEA – 2025 and beyond (Psychogyiou, et al, 2025), was published with the aim of providing a concise yet comprehensive picture of how internationalisation within HE is being strategically pursued today, and what this may mean for the EHEA moving forward.
In order to effectively map the policy/strategy landscape for internationalisation in higher education across the EHEA, the ACA-EAIE research team undertook extensive desk research and review of national strategic policy documents, considered key academic and policy literature and conducted a series of semi-structured interviews with policymakers and national higher education experts. Key informants also provided validation support on each country-specific profile included in the report. Altogether, this work provides an overview of the national-level policy/strategy landscape for internationalisation in higher education across the EHEA from three key perspectives:
- Broad historical context: the report includes a retrospective on the emergence of strategies/policies within the EHEA and the evolution of policy dynamics over time, to help place the current realities of national-level action in this area into appropriate historical context.
- Current country-specific details: specific information is provided for each of the EHEA’s member states (excluding the Russian Federation and Belarus, which are currently suspended). The text includes concise overviews of defined strategies/policies focused on internationalisation in higher education, cases where higher education is included within broader national strategies for the internationalisation of education, and other national efforts reflecting different forms of policy engagement in the area. These brief country profiles succinctly map the key strategic documents as well as core characteristics, while guiding the readers to the actual source documents for an in-depth read.
- Future considerations: reflections are offered on key current trends and implications for the future, informed by the research findings and by the authors’ collective experience in the field, further enriched by semi-structured interviews with experts from different country contexts. These reflections look beyond formal policy documents to depict the realities and complex factors affecting internationalisation now and in the future.
Key takeaways
This research exercise led to various interesting insights linked to the role and perception of national policies/strategies on internationalisation of higher education in the EHEA today. These include:
- While it is increasingly recognised that national governments are central actors in setting priorities, enabling implementation and signalling long-term commitment, the existence of a formal national strategy does not, in itself, signify a more advanced or effective approach to internationalisation. There appear to be multiple avenues to achieve desired results as many countries achieve significant outcomes through other policy channels, institutional initiatives, or sector-driven collaboration and address a wide range of strategic activities via these efforts. National strategies and policies are important, but different approaches can also yield very meaningful results.
- Defined strategies—ie “specific and explicit policy endeavours already adopted at the national level, which can be considered active policymaking aimed at advancing some aspect(s) of internationalisation” (Crăciun’s, 2018)—are less commonly in place across the EHEA than other forms of national-policy engagement with internationalisation. Just 13 of the 47 EHEA higher education systems reviewed in this study were found to have defined strategies in 2025.
- There are many indications of interest in ensuring better access to internationalisation activities, with certain strategies setting clear objectives for making specific activities more inclusive, or ‘for all’.
- Both the local and the global have increased in importance. Strengthening regional level cooperation remains important. However, in terms of student recruitment, there appears to be a growing push to recruit beyond Europe, particularly non-EU/EEA students. In short, strategies combine strong regional ties and expanded global ambitions.
- Key European-level frameworks and initiatives (such as the Bologna Process or EU-funded programmes, including Erasmus+ mobility and the European Universities alliances) are perceived as valuable across all countries. For smaller countries, in particular, these channels offer opportunities to access resources and networks that can help advance their internationalisation interests in ways that would be difficult for them to achieve alone. However, these resources are equally integrated into larger countries’ systems. Overall, EU-level initiatives remain foundational to national strategies/policies.
- Along with the new, there is still plenty of ‘the old’. Strategies consistently refer to longstanding obstacles that need to be tackled to ease international cooperation, chief among these visas and entry issues for non-European students as well as inconsistent recognition of credits and qualifications.
What the future might hold
No one has a crystal ball, and this project did not actively undertake a scenario-building exercise for the future. Yet, the conversations conducted with national experts indicated consensus around the notion that the sector should work strenuously to prevent negative scenarios. With this in mind, several courses of action stand out as likely to positively shape future policy/strategy development in this area:
- Showing the tangible value of international education. To ensure future funding and support for the sector, there is a widely agreed-upon need to investigate and document the impact of internationalisation more thoroughly at all levels.
- Widening the conversation around internationalisation beyond the inner circle. It is essential to present the results of critical analyses of internationalisation’s impact in a way that resonates with the most relevant stakeholders and reaches a wider range of national and European policy actors beyond the field of education. Engaging the wider public to better understand and appreciate the value of internationalisation is another important ingredient for policy success.
- Breaking (partially) with the past. Newer policy documents are more expansive, casting a wider vision and reaffirming the core values and principles of internationalisation, while focusing less on the nitty-gritty of strategy implementation. They also openly acknowledge the high degree of uncertainty and volatility of our times, emphasising ingrained flexibility, the need to cultivate agility to be able to deal with unforeseen events and provide accurate responses and the mastery of crisis management. Mid-cycle, if not yearly, strategy reviews are also an increasing practice, highlighting the nature of newer strategies as living documents.
Conclusion
Overall, we can safely say that strategy appears to be alive and well in the EHEA. This might not appear obvious, with only 13 countries having an active stand-alone national strategy/policy on the internationalisation of higher education, adopted and in force in 2025. But there is much more afoot than this simple statistic indicates. As we look toward the future, national-level strategies/policies will likely become more adaptive, inclusive and evidence-driven, widening the conversation around internationalisation to engage other key players beyond higher education and providing tangible proof of its impact. In doing so, the next generation of strategies/policies may be well positioned to help secure the policy commitment and appropriate resources that the sector truly needs.
References
Psychogyiou, A, Hoekstra-Selten, J., Nygård, J., Rumbley, L.E. & Ferencz, I. (2025). Mapping the internationalisation strategy landscape across the EHEA – 2025 and beyond.