Fighting Brain Drain: The Ecuadorian Scholarship

Abstract

In 2007, the Republic of Ecuador introduced a new scholarship program for financing Ecuadorian students intending to study abroad. This program still exists and stipulates a compulsory return to the students’ home country after completing their studies abroad. Statistical data shows a return rate of about 90%, which is somewhat surprising at first glance. This paper aims to introduce the Ecuadorian scholarship program as a case study in the literature of financing systems of students’ mobility in higher education, while attempting to give a first analysis of its mechanism design.

Keywords

• brain drain
• financing systems of students’ mobility
• higher education
• students’ mobility
• developing countries