This research paper discusses the spontaneous international academic mobility, and explores the factors that drive university students to invest in a study séjour outside their country of origin. It uses the exploratory survey method based on two groups of non-probability samples: 249 Brazilian and 237 Colombian students. When tabulating, documentary and bibliographic material formed the basis for the interpretation of the data. We conclude that: Brazilian students relate academic mobility to personal factors, and Colombian students to academic ones.