This article investigates whether student flows significantly channel academic knowledge from developed countries in the North to less developed ones in the South. It also examines if human capital absorbs and materialises this academic knowledge into technological development. Empirical analysis on a panel of 55 developing countries over 2003-2016 period indicates that student flows from the South to the North is an important vehicle for the North-South knowledge spillovers and human capital in the South strongly facilitates this diffusion process. These findings convey important implications for developing countries' migration and education strategies that aim to promote innovation, technological development and growth performance. They are of special interests to policymakers and educational practitioners.