USA extends lead as country that has educated most world leaders

The USA has pulled further ahead of the UK as the country that has educated the most world leaders as international students, according to the annual Soft-Power Index by the UK-based Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI) think tank.

HEPI’s eighth edition of the Soft-Power Index shows that 70 current world leaders – defined as monarchs, presidents and prime ministers – received higher education in the USA, five more than in the previous edition, while the UK remains in second place with 58, the same as last year.

France retained third place with 28 leaders educated, down two on the previous index, followed by Russia on 10. Australia, Belgium and Spain were tied in fifth place, each having educated seven leaders.

Germany, Italy and Switzerland have educated six world leaders each, while the Netherlands has taught five current leaders.

In the first edition of the HEPI Soft-Power Index published in 2017 the UK was ahead by one world leader, but since then the USA has overtaken the UK and built up a commanding lead, the authors said.

Current leaders from Belgium, Denmark, Lebanon, Nigeria, the Philippines, South Korea, Spain and Thailand are among those that studied abroad in the USA.

HEPI said that in the period since 2017, 77 countries in the world have had at least one very senior leader educated at higher education level in the UK.

Nick Hillman, Director of HEPI, said of the UK’s position, “As a firm believer in the benefits of studying abroad, I am sorry to see the UK’s relative position slip – and for the sixth time since we began calculating the numbers seven years ago. What could once have been excused as a blip is now a very clear trend.

“International students bring all sorts of financial, educational and social benefits to the UK but the constant flux in policy, such as the tighter rules introduced in January 2024, has confused people about whether the UK is truly welcoming. So we cannot assume that we will recover the ground we have lost relative to the US.”

He continued, “I hope the new UK Government, which immediately adopted much more positive rhetoric on international students, will bear HEPI’s Soft-Power Index in mind as they continue evaluating whether the current student migration rules and high visa costs are fit for purpose.”