Abstract
Higher education research has increasingly engaged with global dimensions of teaching and research, yet the internationalization of student migration remains underexamined in the Indian context. This study provides a bibliometric review and systematic analysis of publication output on international student migration between 1995 and 2025, drawing on Scopus data. Findings reveal a surge in research over the past decade, alongside the dominance of publications from North America, reflecting intensified student migration and the growing salience of transnational policy agendas. Full-text comprehension of the publications indicates that India is attracting rising share of students from South Asia and Africa, due to affordability and availability of English-medium instruction. Persistent challenges remain around infrastructure, academic integration and development of soft skills. Outbound migration from India, by contrast, continues to be dominated by flows to Anglophone destinations such as the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia. Here students pursue academic prestige, post-study employment and migration pathways. An under-researched dimension of international student migration foregrounds India’s consolidation as a regional educational hub, in parallel with the rising prominence of Gulf Cooperation and Southeast Asian host locations. While these destinations offer economic advantages, flexible residency pathways and cultural proximity, their interconnected positioning within India-centered mobility circuits remains undertheorized. The study underscores the shifting geographies of student migration linked to Indian higher education policy.
Keywords: Bibliometric Analysis, Higher Education, India, International Migration, Students, Systematic Comprehension.