Migration of international students to universities in Hesse State in Germany

Abstract This paper uses both the descriptive and comparative approaches to provide an overview of migration of international students to universities in Hesse State in Germany. This paper presents an in-depth analysis of migration of international students in universities in Hesse State using new primary and secondary data on international students in universities in Hesse State. We add to the existing studies in the international literature by presenting an interesting analysis of migration of international students in universities in Hesse State in Germany, and adding valuable contribution to the increasing debate in the international literature concerning the increasing interaction between migration and increasing internationalisation of higher education in Germany. We provide new contribution by explaining the impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on migrations of international higher education students to universities in Hesse State. We examine the first hypothesis that consistent with all German universities the size of migration of international students to universities in Hesse state increased substantially over the period (2016-2024) but the distribution showed considerable variation over the period (2016-2023). We investigate the second hypothesis that consistent with all German universities the COVID-19 Pandemic has not affected the flow of migration of international students to universities in Hesse state (2019-2023). We find that the international students make between 13% and 26% of total students studying in universities in Hesse state (2019-2023), while the international students make 16% of total students studying in German universities (2022/23). We show that the share of international students in several universities in Hesse state is above the standard rate for all German universities (16%). We find that consistent with all German universities in Hesse state’s universities, the diversity is demonstrated from the fact that the international students coming from a wider range of countries. An important contribution of this paper is the contribution to existing international literature by investigating the prevalence of the mental health problems among international migrant students in universities in Hesse state. Our results indicate that the mental health issues and challenges are prevalent among few international migrant students at the beginning of their studies in universities in Hesse state; however, the majority of international migrant students in universities in Hesse state indicated that these mental health problems were resolved over time as international students progressed with their academic studies in universities in Hesse state. A new aspect of our analysis is the presentation of a new case study on migrant international higher education students in universities in Hesse State. This study utilises new primary data from a short survey examining the migration patterns of international students in universities in Hesse state. The survey analysed the distribution of international students at universities in Hesse State, focusing on their regions and countries of origin, fields of study, backgrounds, motivations, challenges, suggestions and recommendations for improving international students’ experience in universities in Hesse State and in Germany. The survey results in universities in Hesse state align closely with trends observed across German universities regarding international students.