Examining National Higher Education Policy Initiatives in OECD Countries Attracting a Large Number of International Students

This study aims to comparatively examine national strategic higher education policy initiatives of selected OECD countries attracting a large number of international students. As an example of a multiple-case study, the study group comprised Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and Canada. The data were the official strategic education policy documents of these countries and obtained from the official government websites of these countries. The qualitative thematic analysis method was employed to analyze the data. The study concluded that visa and employment convenience, expanded national scholarship opportunities, advertisement and promotion of higher education, accreditation/recognition-related strategic policy initiatives, government and third-party partnerships, and strategies to enhance student well-being were the main themes observed in the national higher education policy documents. Analyzing the common similarities and tendencies in top-ranked OECD countries' national strategic higher education policy initiatives, this study offered a visionary perspective for other countries to revise or redesign their national education policies to attract more international students in the future.