Purpose – The quality of higher education nowadays is greatly affected by the external factors both on the national and international level. Universities are becoming more aware of the effects of globalization, and of the fact that the need for international work experience, as well as partially or fully acquired education abroad is increasing. The aim of the research is to analyse and evaluate students’ learning experiences and satisfaction with the choice of Higher Education Institution (HEI) in order to develop suggestions for the improvement of different dimensions related to the higher education export. Design/methodology/approach – Several research methods, such as literature review, logical and comparative analysis, as well as the empirical method to obtain information by conducting a survey, and the induction method to interpret and generalize the survey results are applied in this research. In order to discover learning experiences and determinants of student choice of host country and HEIs, research was carried out, under which two questionnaires were developed. The survey involved foreign students from seven HEIs in Latvia and one Estonian university. Findings – The literature review and research conducted demonstrate that the environment in which HEIs operate is becoming more open to the increasing international influences and competition and leads to increasing opportunities for international studies and choice available to students. Thus, HEI must embrace the internationalization of education and exploit it for the development and improvement of knowledge and well-being of each individual. The strategy of internationalization requires diversification of the available study programmes, attracting guest speakers and students, and involving students and academic staff in various international collaboration projects. The study quality is closely related to the qualification and scientific activities of academic personnel, as well as the students input and interest in the study process is seen as an important component of the quality of studies. The results also show the need to improve the academic quality in order to achieve the goal of academic quality excellence, which has been set as one of the top priorities in the visions of several universities. Research limitations/implications – The study does not analyse the foreign students’ countries of origin in terms of political, economic situations, as well as other factors. Upon researching the proportion of foreign students in Latvian universities, it was found that most students acquire education in Riga, therefore other Latvian city HEIs have not been included in survey. Originality/value – The results obtained can be used to improve quality and encourage the export of higher education by introducing the necessary changes in areas identified in the study at the state, as well as university level. The authors also provide an insight into areas where implementation of changes is necessary in order to improve the foreign students’ level of satisfaction and learning experience.