Cost-benefit evaluation demonstrates distinct return timelines across international vocational education models in China, indicating that project scale and host policy moderate economic returns.
The internationalization of vocational education has evolved from a single output model to a complex process involving multiple stakeholders, institutional transfer, cultural adaptation, and resource integration. Under increasingly economically rational policy and investment decisions, the economic efficiency and sustainability of internationalization models require quantitative assessment. Based on a cost-benefit analysis framework, this study constructs an evaluation system covering input and output indicators. Three typical models of vocational education internationalization are selected: project output, cross-border institutional cooperation, and standard foreign aid. Internationalization project data from 48 higher vocational colleges in 23 provinces and municipalities in China are collected to compare the cost structure and economic benefits of different models. Results show significant differences in cost recovery periods among the three models. The project output model shows the most evident short-term benefits; the standard foreign aid model has higher long-term return potential; and the cross-border institutional cooperation model faces the greatest cost pressure and slowest benefit release. Further analysis shows that project scale, cooperation depth, and host-country policy environment moderate economic benefits.
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Z. Y. Ma (2026) studied this question.
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