2 This chapter examines the underlying motivations behind why institutions and organizations decide to apply particular policies and practices. By applying a lens of fve diffusion models— learning, imitation, competition, normative, and coercion—to understand these motivations, decision makers and implementers will make better choices for internationalization based on their specifc context. Student Learning in an International Context: Examining Motivations for Education Transfer Darbi Roberts What types of programs, services, and opportunities do educators offer stu- dents in a new and internationalized higher education context? How do they decide what programs and services to borrow from whom, and why do they decide to borrow them? This chapter builds on the groundwork presented in Chapter 1 by determining how institutions and practitioners decide what kinds of international education “best practices” to implement in an international context. As Roberts and Komives outlined (based on Wilkins & Huisman, 2012), there are four choices institutions make when applying best practices across borders and contexts. Institutions transfer best practices when cultural distance between institutions is low and com- mitment and support for the initiative is high. When cultural distance is great but commitment and support is still high, programmatic adaptation occurs by ftting the initiative into the new context. An institution decides to hedge in using an initiative if the cultural distance is low but commit- ment is low as well. And fnally, institutions may avoid an initiative or part- nership if the cultural distance is high and the commitment to making it work is low. The purpose of this chapter is to understand how universities and practitioners go about deciding what practices for internationalization to borrow, either consciously or subconsciously, and why they decide to use those practices. In their foundational work, DiMaggio and Powell (1983) posit that when an area of practice becomes established, homogenization ensues. In NEW DIRECTIONS FOR HIGHER EDUCATION, no. 175, Fall 2016  2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Published online in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com) • DOI: 10.1002/he.20195 23