An article in the Daily Beast discusses the "rise of the American University as an exporter". 

"Higher education is small but rapidly growing service export. When a student comes from China to get a master’s degree in engineering at Georgia Tech, or a student from Brazil enrolls in UCLA’s MBA program—the tuition he pays is tabulated as an export. And an expensive one, at that. Despite the high price tag of American degrees, U.S. universities remain remarkably competitive in the global marketplace. For all its problems, the U.S. higher education system—especially the post-graduate education system—is the best in the world."

To read the full article, visit: www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/08/22/give-me-your-studious-american-universities-are-prolific-exporters.html.