Chien, C. L., & Chiteng, F. (2011). New patterns in student mobility in the southern african development. Building regional higher education capacity through academic mobility , 4 .
Based on Data from the UIS, OECD, and Eurostat, this information bulletin examines new patterns in student
mobility in the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC). The findings shows that the SADC has the highest outbound mobility ratio worldwide (6%), though growth in the local tertiary enrollment surpasses the outflow of
students (at least in some countries). Moreover, unlike their African counterparts pursuing tertiary education in
Europe and North America, nearly one-half of SADC mobile students are choosing to study in South Africa. Social
science, business, and law are the most popular disciplines amongst mobile students from the region. This paper
concludes that SADC students tendency to remain within the region parallels SADC’s vision for regionalization and
intra-region mobility. It also suggests that increasing local enrollment and outbound student mobility are both
alternative pathways to expanding access to educational opportunities for SADC students.