Changing Destinations: Ideal Attraction and Actual Movement of Cross Border Tertiary Students from Mainland China.
Globalization has driven growth in the market for cross border students. Mainland China, with a burgeoning economy and the largest national population, has become an important source of cross border students. This study identifies ideal attraction in mainland China to destinations for cross border tertiary education, as expressed by ideal first and second choice destinations in 2008. It then compares ideal interest with the actual destinations of students over the ten year period between 1999 and 2008. Findings indicate that the USA and South Korea are under performing while Japan and Australia are over performing against the mainland Chinese public's ideal demand. Countries, territories and higher education institutions hoping to attract mainland Chinese cross border students could optimize their draw by raising their awareness and addressing the concerns of this increasingly important market.