Internationalisation Of The University Of Pecs, Hungary

A new age was opened for higher education with the start of the 21st century. The number of students studying abroad increased and the process of the internationalization in higher education began. The best known indicators of these were the student and the teaching staff mobility. In 2011, the number of the foreign students was about 4.1 million. This paper conceptually and contextually reviews the internationalization and examines the characteristics of Hungarian higher education, the network of cities and also the numerical and territorial expansion of the structure of higher education. This paper outlines the competition force nowadays because of the financial problems and of the applying students’ declining number. In this context, the institutions of higher education try to create and form their trainings to build on international relations. Nevertheless, in this they can only be effective in cooperation with the cities and there are some cities which have recognized the advantages of this process, for example, Pecs, the centre of the Transdanubian region in Hungary, along the border with Croatia. The university has a significant role in the life of the city and it can be a major factor in the development of the new function of the former industrial city. The authors examine the role of the foreign students in the University of Pecs through educational statistics and through interviews with leaders of the university, and with experts of foreign affairs. This paper also analyses the national composition of these students, the spatial structure of their origins and the present foreign students influence on the development of the city.