Political, social, environmental, and health challenges have questioned the relevance and sustainability of international student mobility (ISM). Strong critiques towards ISM stem from current global challenges but are also rightfully prevalent among scholars of internationalization. In response to the sustained critique of ISM, this article makes the case that—despite its limitations—ISM can contribute towards important public good outcomes and serve broader institutional and higher education sector aims. Public good is operationalized as referring to markers of democratization—trust in others and political participation—and markers of human development—self-reported competency levels and happiness. Data from eight European countries collected through the Eurograduate 2018 pilot survey is used to test the association between study abroad and democratization and human development markers. By doing so, the paper aims to understand if ISM can help address some of the democratization and human development challenges faced at national, regional, and global levels. The paper also observes how these outcomes vary between international, migrant, and domestic graduates. In this article, the juxtaposition of migrant graduates—an under-researched group in internationalization studies—with international graduates highlights how migrant students and graduates can be better supported. Results offer a complex picture of inequality between international, migrant, and domestic graduates. Findings also show that studying abroad is positively associated with trust in others, political participation, higher self-reported competency levels, and happiness, underlining the public good value of ISM.

政治、社会、环境和健康挑战对国际学生流动（ISM）的相关性和可持续性提出了质疑。对ISM的强烈批评源于当前的全球挑战，但在国际化学者中也理所当然地普遍存在。为了回应对 ISM 的持续批评，本文提出，尽管有其局限性，ISM 可以为重要的公共利益成果做出贡献，并服务于更广泛的机构和高等教育部门目标。公共利益被具体化为民主化的标志——对他人的信任和政治参与——以及人类发展的标志——自我报告的能力水平和幸福感。通过 Eurograduate 2018 试点调查收集的来自八个欧洲国家的数据用于测试出国留学与民主化和人类发展指标之间的关联。本文旨在了解 ISM 是否可以帮助解决国家、区域和全球层面面临的一些民主化和人类发展挑战。该论文还观察了国际毕业生、移民毕业生和国内毕业生之间的这些结果有何不同。在本文中，移民毕业生（国际化研究中的一个未被充分研究的群体）与国际毕业生的并列强调了如何更好地支持移民学生和毕业生。结果展现了国际毕业生、移民毕业生和国内毕业生之间不平等的复杂情况。研究结果还表明，出国留学与对他人的信任、政治参与、更高的自我报告能力水平和幸福感呈正相关，凸显了 ISM 的公共利益价值。