Student migration represents the major form of international human capital training and has significant implications for knowledge transfer and economic development, but its highly uneven geography remains relatively underresearched. This paper addresses two gaps in the research literature. First, it provides a temporal perspective by analysing intra‐European tertiary student exchange in three subperiods, within the time frame of 1998–2012, capturing both continuities and major changes in the strong polarisation of intra‐European student exchanges against a backdrop of significant institutional changes in Europe. Alongside the dominant polarisation, there is also regionalisation of exchange within some parts of Europe. Second, the determinants of the changing spatial concentration of international human capital training are analysed in terms of not only traditional migration push–pull factors but also connectivity. The findings indicate that connectivity factors, such as language and/or spatial proximity, and established flows of labour, trade, and knowledge are the most significant determinants and underpin the persistent stability in the polarisation of exchange. In contrast, traditional push–pull factors, such as income and employment differentials or differences in tertiary education quality and investment, are less important.