Cross-border higher education refers to higher education that takes place in situations where the teacher, student, programme, institution/provider or course materials cross national jurisdictional borders. Cross-border higher education may include higher education by public/private and not-for-profit/for-profit providers.

It encompasses a wide range of modalities, in a continuum from face-to-face (taking various forms such as students travelling abroad and campuses abroad) to distance learning (using a range of technologies and including e-learning).

Activities in the Action Plan of the Global Forum on International Quality Assurance, Accreditation and the Recognition of Qualifications are key to work in this area. The UNESCO/OECD Guidelines on Quality Provision of Cross-border Higher Education is an important element of UNESCO’s actions in this area. The Global Forum responds to the growing demands of the international community to have UNESCO proactive in the debates concerning crossborder higher education and trade in higher education. UNESCO aims to encourage the development of quality cross-border higher education that meets human, social, economic and cultural needs. Actions are aimed at providing tools to protect students and other stakeholders from low-quality provision of higher education.