Competing business models in international higher education: a transatlantic comparison

Abstract International higher education is being reorganized by competition between business models rather than by competition between national systems alone. This Brief argues that the long-standing U.S. advantage in attracting international students and scientific talent is increasingly challenged as its premium price becomes harder to justify relative to perceived educational and career returns and growing external policy risks. The problem is not that U.S. universities have ceased to be excellent, especially at the elite end of the system. Rather, their global position has become increasingly exposed to tuition inflation, dependence on high-fee international enrollments, and political uncertainty around visas, campus conflict, and the treatment of foreign students. Europe has become a credible alternative because it offers a different value proposition: lower fees, broadly distributed quality, standardized degree structures, English-taught programs, and an explicit internationalization strategy, particularly in business schools. Yet Europe is not a new hegemon; it lacks the same concentration of global flagship universities and faces its own political and demographic constraints. The transatlantic comparison therefore points to a more plural and segmented market for global talent. For technology transfer and innovation systems, the central implication is that the geography of knowledge production will depend increasingly on how higher education systems balance cost, quality, openness, and political predictability.