A brief look at … Mexico

Mexico’s youthful population and growing middle class make it a market to watch for international education. We examine the key trends for inbound and outbound student mobility.

Fast Facts:

Mexico is located in the southern portion of North America, between the United States and Central America
Mexico City is the country’s capital and largest city
Mexico’s population is 131 million
Mexico’s median age is 29, as compared with 39 in the US (to the north) and 23 in Guatemala (to the south)
Spanish is the country’s official language, spoken by 90% of the population

Inbound mobility

How many international students are currently studying in Mexico?

In 2023, there were 53,801 international students in Mexico, with the vast majority of students coming for undergraduate study abroad, according to IIE.

How has that number changed over recent years?

In the past seven years, there has been a 175% increase in Mexico’s international student population – which stood at 20,322 international students in 2017.

What are the top sending countries for the destination?

Top places of origin and number of students in 2023:

Colombia: 1,424
Argentina: 270
Peru: 233
US: 192
Chile: 179
France: 144
Spain: 122
India: 113
Ecuador: 84
Venezuela: 82

What factors are determining inbound student mobility?

Mexico accounts for a major chunk of the top universities in Latin America. Some 64 Mexican universities are included in the 2024 QS Latin America University Rankings, which highlights the top 400 institutions. Brazil is the only other Latin American country claiming more.

The private research-based university, Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education, ranked fourth and Mexico City’s National Autonomous University of Mexico came seventh.

The country is home to just over 1,000 public institutions and approximately 2,500 private Mexican universities.

The largest proportion of Mexico’s international students come to study engineering, followed by physical & life sciences and mathematics & computer sciences.

Outbound mobility

How many students are currently studying abroad?

According to the latest figures from UNESCO institute for statistics, Mexico had 34,781 students studying abroad in 2023.

How has that number changed in recent years?

Between 2000 and 2019, the number of international degree-seeking Mexican students more than doubled – from 15,816 to 34,319, according to UNESCO.

Experts have said that there are “clear signs” for recruitment growth in the youthful and increasingly prosperous country.

Since 2019, international student numbers have remained fairly stable, with a slight decrease in 2021, likely caused by the pandemic.

What are the top destination countries for the market?

The US, Spain, Germany, Canada, France, UK and Australia are Mexican students’ favored destinations, according to a 2021 Flywire survey, though the difficulty of collating global data about outbound student mobility can cause some discrepancies in data sets.

According to the 2022 BMI Mexico Market Report, the following countries are the top destinations for Mexican students:

US: 12,530 (2021)
Canada: 6,425 (2020) – not including K-12
Australia: 3,204 (2020)
France: 3,199 (2019)
UK: 1,915 (2020)

What factors are driving students’ motivations and preferences?

According to the National Association of Universities and Higher Education Institutions in Spanish, total university enrolment in the country has nearly doubled in the past 13 years.

According to BMI, affordability, employment opportunities during and after studies, and emigration pathways are the key factors driving Mexican outbound student mobility.

The significance of the cost of education was highlighted in Flywire’s survey, with students from Mexico citing more sensitivity about their education payments than most other countries.

Some 90% of students said they needed help affording their education expenses, and 79% said the process of making tuition payments caused significant stress for them and their families.

While the US remains the number one destination for Mexican students, numbers have been steadily declining since 2016 and interest in less traditional destinations is growing.

“The country’s growing middle class and youth population give clear signs of increasing potential for international education,” said BMI.

Independent organizations such as FUNED continue to provide scholarships and encourage mobility overseas, offering 110 postgraduate scholarships in 2020, BMI added.

The reasons for Mexican students opting to study in Spanish-speaking countries such as Colombia and Argentina include language advantages, cultural familiarity or geographic proximity.

However, there is a growing cohort of students looking to non-Spanish speaking countries and Mexico is the 18th largest market for ELT in the world.

Compared with other countries in Latin America, Mexico has frequent exchanges with China in education, culture, sports and tourism. Approximately 60 Chinese companies, including Huawei and Didi, have set up offices in Mexico.

Mexican students are increasingly looking for programs to equip them for the country’s strong international business presence, driving an interest in in fields such as aerospace, environmental studies, business, education and IT, according to the US department of Commerce.