The globalization of education triggers fair criticism of the university self-sufficiency in any country to train competent professionals, moreover, today the necessity to expand the students’ academic mobility is universally recognized. The article describes the basic methodological approaches to defining the essence of the concept of “academic mobility”. It explores the goal, objectives, functions of the students’ academic mobility in the context of international educational integration. This publication submits a classification of the forms of academic mobility of the higher education students on the following grounds: on the type of educational process, on the period of study in a foreign educational establishment, on the nature of the students’ involvement. The article can be useful to the academic staff of higher educational institutions, to the staff of the university centers of academic mobility as well as the employees of the university international departments in the development of international cooperation and academic mobility of the students.