Recently, an increasing number of students have been seeking international education to accumulate cosmopolitan cultural and social capital and realise upward social mobility. In addition to this pragmatic dimension, international education also enables international students to acquire dedicated cosmopolitan dispositions, providing them opportunities to appreciate diverse cultures, values, and gain intercultural/translocal learning experiences. Guided by a theoretical discussion on pragmatic and dedicated cosmopolitanism, this study employed the case study method to explore how 19 international students who studied in Chinese universities navigated their transnational mobility, academic learning, and social lives, and how multiple discourses in their transnational spaces influenced their development of dedicated cosmopolitan dispositions. The findings revealed that international educational programme arrangements, social discourses regarding accruing capital and upward social mobility, and cultural and educational discourses in transnational spaces converged to influence students' development of dedicated cosmopolitan dispositions, affecting their emotions, practices, and choices. This study suggests that actors in international education provide students with more opportunities to connect with the host society and dialogical spaces. Not only international students, but all actors should engage in constant dialogue, and strive to acquire dedicated cosmopolitan dispositions, and promote a socially and culturally inclusive educational environment to support international students' learning and well-being.