Higher Education in Latin America The International Dimension

The international dimension of higher education responds to the challenges of globalization. The interdependence of today’s economies and societies profoundly affects higher education, and higher education, in turn, shapes globalization—through teaching, research, and other services. Broadening access to international higher education and research systems for talented Latin American students, irrespective of their background or country of origin, is at the heart of strengthening knowledge and innovation in their countries. An estimated 1.5 million young students worldwide currently study abroad. Roughly half of them come from countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and more than 40 percent from East and South Asia. Only a few students from Africa, the Middle East, and Latin America get the opportunity to mix with their peers in other countries. With this book—published with the OECD in Spanish, French, and English—the World Bank hopes to contribute to advancing the cause of international higher education in Latin America. Throughout Latin America, the World Bank supports targeted investments in science and higher education and efforts to strengthen Latin America’s research capacity and the “circulation of brains.”