Studying in a different country to your home is a tendency becoming more and more popular amongst European students, according to Eurostat’s latest data.
The statistics service counted 1.7 million university students in the European Union coming from abroad - either from other EU countries or outside of the EU -, a figure which has risen by 22% since 2013.
Again, this is an area where Luxembourgers come out on top as Luxembourgers are the nationals most likely to carry out studies abroad, and by a wide margin compared to other countries. Nearly one out of two Luxembourgish students (47%) goes abroad for their studies, the majority of which study in Germany and France.
Granted, this is not exactly a surprising phenomenon given the small size of the country and the linguistic options Luxembourgish students have, as they are capable of carrying out their postsecondary education in French, German, or English.
However, Luxembourg is far ahead of other European member states, as the country with the second largest proportion of students going abroad is Cyprus, representing 23% of students.
As for our neighbours, 10.2% of French students go abroad, compared to 8.5% of Belgian students and 8.4% of German students. The lowest rates were found in Croatia, Spain, and Greece, all at 3%.
The University of Luxembourg, for its part, strongly recommends studying abroad, describing it as an ‘enriching experience’.
To back up its words, the university has agreements with more than 350 institutions throughout the world to allow its students to study abroad.
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