ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the rhetoric and reality of international student mobility is unpacked to evaluate the benefits that accrue to mobile students. Empirical evidence on the most vaunted gains from international mobility - linguistic skills and enhanced employability - is examined to establish the veracity of these claims. Assumptions about the power of international mobility to provide society with graduating students equipped with global competencies are questioned. And the practical limitations of using international mobility as a means for higher education institutions to ensure students gain global competencies are teased out. The chapter concludes with considerations of alternatives to international mobility. Drawing on the cosmopolitan canon it discusses other ways in which higher education institutions can help students to prepare to be active global citizens and transnational professionals. The focus on student mobility as a vital source of revenue is compelling and generates easy headlines.
