Ireland, Germany and the Netherlands were found to have the largest share of English-taught programs outside the main four study destinations in a report by Studyportals and the British Council, published on September 18.  

While the UK, US, Canada and Australia provide the most English-taught programs (ETPs), as of June 2024, 43% of on-campus and 58% of online ETPs outside the Big Four destinations are in Europe, the report found. 

“Provision of English-taught programs is a key indicator of the state of internationalisation, and the EEA is still emerging as a strong alternative to the Big Four,” said Piet van Hove, EAIE president. 

“In recent years, political trends are severely affecting migration policies as well as putting higher education in a defensive mode. All this adds up to a highly volatile and uncertain landscape for international student mobility,” he added. 

Provision of English-taught programs is a key indicator of the state of internationalisation

Piet van Hove, EAIE

Ireland, Germany and the Netherlands were the top suppliers of on-campus English-taught master’s and bachelor’s degrees, with France, Italy and Portugal expanding their on-campus provision from the previous year. 

In contrast, Spain, Sweden, Denmark and Finland have significantly reduced their ETP offerings since 2019, according to the report.  

“The data shows how polarised the landscape is, with some countries in Europe pulling out all the stops to attract international talent, and others pulling back from internationalisation,” Cara Skikne, head of communication and thought leadership at Studyportals, told The PIE News. 

As some nations scale back their English-taught degrees, Germany has taken proactive steps to expand both on-campus and online offerings of English-taught degrees.  

These include the DAAD’s International Programs and targeted labour market-oriented courses to tackle local workforce shortages.  

In contrast, while the Netherlands is still ranked third for its provision of English-taught degrees in Europe, Dutch universities have agreed to curb internationalisation, leading to the slowest growth in international student numbers recorded in nearly a decade last year.

Denmark followed a similar trajectory in 2021, reducing the number of English-taught programs to limit costs and focus on local students.  

However, by 2023, under pressure from employers and facing a labour shortage, the Danish government reversed its decision, allowing 1,100 more spots for international students in ETPs annually from 2024, with plans for 2,500 more spots per year from 2029, according to the report.  

The data revealed Dublin to be the clear leader in ETP provision, with Ireland, the Netherlands and Spain all having two cities ranked in the top 10 suppliers. 

Though there has been an increase in online degree programs, the report revealed that most European institutions rely firmly on on-campus offerings, which account for over 95% of master’s and bachelor’s degrees across Europe; “confirmation that … higher education is about much more than just the dry transfer of knowledge”, said van Hove.  

It also highlights the continuing influence of master’s programs, which accounted for over 70% of on-campus English-taught degrees in the EEA region in 2024, with comparably few English-taught bachelor’s offered outside North and West Europe.