The Most Popular Destinations for Studying Masters in Europe

A bachelor’s degree isn’t worth quite what it was: More and more people – 657,000 in 2009, double the number in the 1980s – are getting a master’s degree. For example, Masters in Europe account for more than a quarter of all University degrees obtained. In fact, 2 in 25 people (that’s 8 in 100) aged 25 and above have a master’s; in the 1960′s, about the same proportion applied to those who had a bachelor’s or higher.

Studying for a master´s degree abroad nowadays is an attractive option for many graduates. From just 0.8 million in 1975, the number of international students more than doubled until 1995 with 1.7 million. In the 15 years after that, the development accelerated even faster. Alone from 2005 to 2009 the number of international students raised 23.3%. Worldwide, over 3.7 million students were studying abroad in 2009 and studying for their Masters in Europe has often been the choice number one for these students.  Europe is perhaps the most diverse region of the world. There are large minority populations of Asians, Arabs, and Africans as well as the majority, Europeans. There are over 50 ethnic groups of European in the continent as well.

There is something else what makes studying for Masters in Europe an attractive option. Globalization and the dramatic change of doing business affected not only the business itself but also the education the future business leaders receive. In the last years, it became more and more important to learn foreign languages and gain intercultural understanding in order to be prepared for an international research-and working environment. By no doubt, the best way to gain those abilities is studying in Europe considering its diversity and multicultural environment.

Especially Europe plays an important role in this development of internationalism, From 200 to 2009 the number of international students in Europe raised by over 82%. This is considerably more than for example in the US where the growth was just around 49%. It seems that more and more students within, but also outside of Europe choose to study abroad there. In contrast, the share of international students choosing the United States as their destination dropped from 23% to 18%

The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development conducted research about the origin and the destination of international students. According to their findings, the five most popular European countries for international students are the following:   

1. UK – English nowadays is by far the most important language in a globalized business life as well as in international research. This explains why England is such a popular destination. UK nowadays accounts for 10% of all international students worldwide.

2. Germany – it is also well known for its high-class education especially in the field of engineering. 7% of international students worldwide study in Germany.

3. Spain – Spain showed a remarkable development. In the last five years the popularity towards the other countries for international studies world-wide more than tripled. Spain is especially popular for studying Masters in Europe while enjoying a nice climate and studying one of the most important languages in the world beside Chinese, Hindi and English.