Global education offices are seeing renewed student excitement—and more importantly, a deep desire­—for international experiences and travel in real time. Following the significant impact left from the pandemic, institutions celebrated lifts on travel bans throughout 2022 and with that, a comforting answer to the pent-up demand that students had been feeling for several years.

Now in 2023, a new chapter has begun in global education. Institutions are focusing their efforts on expanding opportunities for both incoming and outgoing students as much as possible, and it’s working; students are travelling in numbers that mirror or exceed pre-pandemic rates.

Additionally, global engagement is continuing to be a strategic priority for the majority of institutions. Similar to the findings in last year’s the State of Global Engagement survey, 80% of the respondents see global engagement as part of their institution’s multi-year plan. Moreover, 71% of those international education professionals confirm what we’ve thought to be true all along; the strategic priority of global engagement is keenly focused on expanding the total student experience.

Throughout this report, you’ll find the 258 global education professionals who responded to the Terra Dotta 2023 State of Global Engagement survey provide very encouraging insights about global engagement initiatives as well as the current state of both study abroad and international students and scholars.