NAFSA’s 20th annual Internationalizing the Campus: Profiles of Success at Colleges and Universities not only marks the 20th anniversary of the Senator Paul Simon Award for Campus Internationalization, it also reflects the continued growth in support of campus internationalization from campuses across the United States over the last two decades.

Each year, NAFSA receives competitive applications from diverse universities across the country. For the Comprehensive Award, the committee seeks institutions where internationalization has been broadly infused into all facets of the campus. This year, NAFSA received many outstanding nominations from a cross-section of distinguished institutions. Two institutions were awarded the Comprehensive Award and are profiled in this report: College of Lake County and Kent State University.

The 2022 Comprehensive Award-winning institutions feature the following characteristics:

• The campus has been widely internationalized across schools, divisions, departments, and disciplines.
• There is evidence of genuine administrative- or board-level support for internationalization.
• The campuswide internationalization has had a demonstrable impact on students.
• The institution’s mission statement contains an explicit or implicit statement regarding internationalization and/or global learning.
• The institution supports education abroad as well as its international faculty, scholars, and students.
• There are programs or initiatives that are innovative and/or creative in their approach to campus internationalization.
• The institution’s commitment to internationalization includes the faculty and is reflected in the curriculum.
• There is an international dimension to off-campus programs, community engagement, and successful strategic partnerships.
• There is internationalization in research and/or faculty exchange.

Three additional institutions received the Senator Paul Simon Spotlight Award for their outstanding accomplishments in a specific area of internationalization: Marist College for its Freshman Year Abroad Programs; Northeastern University for its Global Cooperative Education Program; and Northwestern University for its Global Engagement Studies Institute.

These five institutions were recognized earlier this year at the Celebrate Excellence: Awards and Presidential Perspectives event that took place during the 2022 NAFSA Annual Conference & Expo in Denver, Colorado.

The Simon Award celebrates the legacy of the late Senator Paul Simon of Illinois, a lifelong advocate for international education and exchange, recognizing universities and programs that promote international understanding and a more just and peaceful world. NAFSA continues to support the Senator Paul Simon Study Abroad Program Act, which would create a program to incentivize institutional change to make study abroad an integral part of higher education. The Simon Study Abroad Program Act would advance the goal of ensuring that 1 million U.S. college students will study abroad annually for credit; that study abroad participants will be representative of the undergraduate population in terms of gender, ethnicity, income level, and field of study; and that a significantly greater proportion of study abroad will occur in nontraditional destinations.

As we look forward to celebrating the 75th anniversary of NAFSA in 2023, examples of excellence can inspire innovative internationalization plans. We hope that international educators across all types of colleges and universities will see this report as an opportunity to celebrate the value of well-planned and well-executed internationalization efforts and to broaden the reach of best practices in international education. Internationalizing the Campus is also of great source for connection with communities beyond the campus. Legislatures and government agencies may find it a helpful tool for discussing and understanding international education and exchange.

NAFSA congratulates each institution recognized in the 2022 Internationalizing the Campus report for its outstanding work. These institutions truly recognize the importance of international education in the world today and building a globally competent workforce in the increasingly globalized economy.

A Brief History of the Senator Paul Simon Awards

Simon Award Winners