International Student Exchange and Academic Performance

International student exchange has become an important part of university-level studiesand the EU plans to increase it significantly. Weanalyze how international student exchange affects students’ academic human capital. Usingdetailed student-level data fromfour faculties (Economics and Business, Law, Engineering and Science) ofa large Belgian public universitywe findthat, on average, exchange students lose 7%in terms of grades relative to their non-mobile peers, but less so in Erasmus-facilitated exchange.Since students’ academic performance is an important factor in companies’ hiring decisions, participation in international exchange seems to have a non-negligible impact on labor market outcomes.