International Educational Policy

A Statement from Thomas Harvey
Senior Counsel for Governmental Affairs, IIE

For eighty years, the Institute of International Education has been a leader in the international exchange of people and ideas. The Institute was founded at the end of World War I with the idea of making the world a safer place through creating opportunities to travel and study abroad, and in so doing, enabling students to better understand other peoples and other cultures. Since the establishment of the Fulbright Scholarship Program in 1947, the Institute has administered the program on behalf of the United States government. Over the years, more than 80,000 U.S. students and scholars have studied abroad, and some 120,000 foreign students and scholars have studied in the United States.

With the advent of a new century and an unprecedented period of globalization, the United States needs a policy to actively promote international educational exchange.

For students from the U.S., an opportunity to study abroad, to learn other languages and other cultures, is essential preparation for senior management positions in global corporations. Less than one percent of American college students study abroad, however, and an even smaller number study in a second language. We can and should do better.

Foreign students coming to the United States are also important to America's future. Studying here gives them an opportunity to observe and to live in an open democratic system of government, experiencing all the freedoms we take for granted. They perfect their English language skills and learn about the economic potential of our country as a trading partner. Upon their return to their country of origin, they take with them an appreciation of democracy that is sure to influence their relationship with their own government. Their perspectives are informed by their personal experience of American values and the American way of life. As they mature professionally, they will be more inclined to turn to the States as a supplier of products with which they have some familiarity. Those who enter the diplomatic corps or other government service will view the U.S. with an understanding and appreciation that can only come from living here.

Last year, British Prime Minister Tony Blair launched a campaign to increase the number of international students in the U.K. by 75,000. His stated goal is "to have 25 percent of the global market share of higher education students." In pursuing that, his government is funding a $7.78 million marketing campaign to develop the U.K. educational brand. In launching the campaign, Blair noted the long term mutual benefits. "People who are educated here have a lasting tie to our country. They promote Britain around the world, helping our trade and our diplomacy. It is easier for our executives and our diplomats to do business with people familiar with Britain." Similar initiatives have been announced by the governments of France, Germany and Australia.

Nearly 500,000 foreign students study in the United States each year. The Department of Commerce considers this an export of services valued at $7.5 billion dollars annually. Other countries have for years been seeking to encroach on the Unites States' market share for foreign study. For purely economic reasons, the U.S. should protect this market share. For policy reasons, we should seek to have the largest possible number of students from abroad experience life in our country and come to understand our democratic institutions and our economic system.