International Education Week is here, and this year we're celebrating the idea that “International Education is the Future.” This joint initiative of the U.S. Departments of State and Education presents the perfect opportunity to reflect on a few things that have us energized about the future of our field.
- The next cohort of NAFSA RISE fellows has been selected! These emerging leaders bring a wide range of experiences and perspectives to this two-year professional development program. They will no doubt leverage the experience to leave a lasting mark based on the fellowship’s grounding principle: making a robust international education—and the profession itself—accessible to all. Learn more about the new fellows.
- We’ve long celebrated the fact that international students bring a wealth of new ideas, innovations, and intercultural experiences to U.S. campuses, communities, and workplaces. Every year at this time NAFSA shines a light on the economic benefits that international students bring to the United States as well. Newly released data from the 2022–23 academic year show that the number of jobs and economic activity generated by international students is growing. Explore how these students contribute to your state and district, and share these findings with your elected officials, along with the message that they support key policy changes to make the United States more welcoming.
- NAFSA joined 10 other organizations and industry partners in forming the U.S. for Success Coalition. As the Institute of International Education’s Fall 2023 Snapshot on International Student Enrollment report reveals, new international student enrollment increased by only 2 percent in fall 2023 compared with fall 2022. The coalition signals an unprecedented cross-sector commitment to working with policy leaders to remove barriers and find solutions so that a larger and more diverse group of international students can follow their dreams of learning and working in the United States. Get the scoop on the coalition’s vision.
- The 2023 Internationalizing the Campus report is out, and we’re falling in love with the 2023 recipients of the Senator Paul Simon Award for Campus Internationalization all over again. These colleges and universities illustrate both broad and targeted approaches to successfully weaving global education into the DNA of their institutions and are true standard-bearers for the field. Meet the recipients.
- As highlighted in the recent policy-focused NAFSA Town Hall and in NAFSA’s Year-in-Review (summary), recent policy and regulatory gains benefiting international education provide some momentum heading into the second half of the 118th Congress and the 2024 presidential election season. These advances include the introduction of the Keep STEM Talent Act and the Senator Paul Simon Study Abroad Program Act. Join us as we virtually take to Capitol Hill next March to push for policies that make an international education possible for more students. For more on the future of international education and our promise to foster a more inclusive, interconnected, and peaceful world, attend NAFSA’s final 75th anniversary summit on November 16.