INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION FOR A CHANGED WORLD 2002 Public Policy Priorities and Recommendations (Approved by the Board of Directors on January 16, 2002) NAFSA:  Association of International Educators, the world's largest nonprofit association dedicated to international education with more than 8,000 members in the United States and internationally, supports public policies that expand international education and exchange programs between the United States and other nations. NAFSA has long maintained that international education is a critical component of U.S. national security and foreign policy.  It is even more so today, as the United States seeks to respond vigorously to the events of September 11, 2001. It is through international education that our nation can expand its understanding of other countries and their languages, which are necessary to prevent and deal with international crises.  Study abroad programs prepare U.S. undergraduates to function effectively in a world that - even more after September 11 - places a premium on international and intercultural knowledge and understanding.   It is through international education that we will continue to renew our capacity for global leadership by educating successive generations of future world leaders, who come to the United States as international students.  More than 50 current world leaders, including President Vicente Fox of Mexico, King Abdullah of Jordan, and UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, are alumnae of our exchange programs.  The long-term relationships forged through their experience in the United States are invaluable in building and sustaining the broad international coalitions needed to deal with the challenges of today’s world.  Secretary of State Powell has said, "I can think of no more valuable asset to our country than the friendship of future world leaders who have been educated here."  For the same reasons, exchange programs for foreign citizens, scholars, and professionals dispel myths and enhance their understanding of the United States. To ensure the safety, security, and prosperity of our nation, and to support global understanding, NAFSA supports the following public policy recommendations: International Education Policy Now more than ever, NAFSA supports a strong and consistent international education policy for the United States that clearly articulates the fundamental contributions of international education and exchange programs to vital national interests in today's world.  NAFSA urges: the Bush administration to commit itself to the goals contained in the statement of NAFSA and the Alliance for International Educational and Cultural Exchange, Toward an International Education Policy for the United States, and as recommended in that statement, to develop a comprehensive federal approach to enhancing international education. the Congress to conduct hearings on the contribution of international education to the national interest, and the House of Representatives to pass H. Con. Res. 201, expressing the sense of Congress that the United States should establish an international education policy to further national security, foreign policy, and economic competitiveness, and to promote mutual understanding and cooperation among nations (the Senate has passed an identical resolution, S. Con. Res. 7.) state governors and other policy makers to promote state-government support for international education focused on individual state interests. the higher education, U.S. foundation, business, agricultural, and other communities to add their support for an international education policy for the United States. Expanding U.S. Student Participation in Study Abroad Programs One of the clearest lessons of September 11th is that we need more Americans to understand other world areas and foreign languages.  The best way to accomplish this is by making study, internships, and service learning abroad an integral component of U.S. undergraduate education.  Although it is encouraging that the number of U.S. students studying abroad has increased 61 percent in the last five years to a total of 143,590 in the 2000-2001 academic year, that is still a minuscule proportion of the nearly 13 million undergraduate students at U.S. institutions.  The United States can no longer afford to be passive about study abroad.  NAFSA urges: federal, state, and institutional policy makers to identify and eliminate barriers and disincentives to study abroad, and to create incentives for students to study abroad. greater attention to promoting the integration of study abroad into the higher education curriculum; promoting ethnic, socioeconomic, and gender diversity in study abroad; promoting the diversification of study abroad locations, languages, and subjects; and increasing opportunities for international internships and service learning. Congress to ensure the continuation of the National Security Education Program’s invaluable international undergraduate scholarships, graduate fellowships, and institutional grants by providing appropriations to replenish the NSEP Trust Fund. Congress to increase funding for the Gilman scholarships, which provide support for study abroad for financially disadvantaged students.  In the first year of operation, only 302 awards could be given out of 2,771 applicants. To further this objective, NAFSA has established a Strategic Task Force on Education Abroad.  The task force will report its recommendations in 2002. Preserving International Student Access to U.S. Higher Education Media coverage since September 11 has obscured the extraordinary contributions international students make to U.S. national interests.  NAFSA believes that international students are part of the solution to international terrorism, not part of the problem.  By study in the U.S. international students learn about the realities, not the myths of U.S. culture, and they learn the skills needed to build the economies of their nations, addressing the root causes of terrorism.  By being the destination of choice for students who wish to pursue higher education outside their home countries, the United States has for more than 50 years educated successive generations of world leaders - a U.S. foreign policy asset of inestimable value.  They are a critical component of graduate education in the United States, and they bring important educational, economic, and cultural benefits to colleges, universities, and communities across the country.   (International students and their dependents contributed $11 billion to the U.S. economy in 2000-2001.)   Strong competition in the global higher education market from other major hosting countries, and the absence of a proactive strategy for increasing international-student access to the United States, threaten the preeminence of U.S. education globally.  NAFSA urges a partnership between higher education and government at all levels to: develop a marketing plan for increasing the number of international students in U.S. higher education institutions, which would include decisive steps to strengthen overseas educational advising services. assess the legislative and regulatory regime governing international student access to the United States, including a review of visa policies and procedures, to ensure that controls and restrictions necessary for national security are in place while at the same time ensuring that the students who are legitimate and wish us no harm have easy and efficient access. enhance the experience of international students in the United States by removing unnecessary impediments to summer employment, academic training, international travel, and other activities. develop a user-friendly, comprehensive, sophisticated, web-based information resource through which prospective international students could understand and assess the higher education options available to them in the United States and identify possible financing options. To further this objective, NAFSA has established a Strategic Task Force on International Student Access.  The task force will report its recommendations in 2002. Monitoring of International Students and Scholars NAFSA strongly supports the right of international students and scholars at U.S. educational institutions to be treated in accordance with the principles upon which our nation was founded, including the presumption of innocence and the impropriety of guilt by association.  One of the September 11 terrorists apparently entered the United States on a student visa, and every reasonable precaution must be taken to ensure that there is never another such case.   On the other hand, countless international students who have studied in the United States have returned home to become heads of state, cabinet members, CEOs of major corporations, and occupants of other leadership positions in their societies.  Since foreign students constitute less than two percent of those who enter the United States every year on temporary visas, monitoring international students alone cannot contribute significantly to U.S. security.  It is essential--both for effective counter terrorism and to achieve the educational and foreign policy objectives of educational exchanges--that counter terrorism measures be focused on specific threats, and not disproportionately on students and scholars.  NAFSA urges: the Immigration and Naturalization Service to work with the higher education community to facilitate compliance with international-student monitoring and reporting requirements scheduled to be implemented by January 1, 2003.  INS must provide more, and more timely, technical information to enable schools to develop or acquire the necessary systems and technology.  INS must take seriously the requirement in the law that existing software be used where possible. the INS to conduct a new fee study leading to the promulgation of a significantly reduced international student monitoring fee that reflects the availability of a $36.8 million dollar appropriation for this purpose that was not contemplated at the time of the 1999 fee study. the INS to work with the higher education community to develop a more efficient and user-friendly fee collection mechanism. NAFSA has always supported the development of electronic reporting formats for information that higher education institutions are required to maintain on international students.  We will continue to work with the INS to make electronic reporting a reality as required by law. Protecting Freedom of Scientific Exchange Scientific exchange is essential to U.S. scientific leadership and competitiveness.  On the other hand, U.S. scientific expertise can be appropriated by enemies of the United States and used against us.  For generations, the United States has sought to maintain a delicate balance between the need for openness to exchange and the need for protection against foreign threats.  The balance needs to be redefined post-September 11.  This will be done in the context of the Presidential Decision Directive 2 (PDD-2) of October 29, 2001.  NAFSA urges: the Bush administration, in its implementation of PDD-2, to be sensitive to the continuing need to promote scientific exchange in the interest of fostering scientific excellence, to be cautious about attempting to restrict basic research or the flow of unclassified information in the public domain, to restrict controls to narrow areas that can achieve multilateral support, and to consult closely with the higher education and scientific communities in elaborating any further controls. NAFSA will work with the National Academy of Science and other leaders in the field toward these ends. Immigration Reform Relating to International Students and Scholars NAFSA believes that the United States requires an immigration policy that is appropriate for an era of globalization (including the globalization of terrorism), knowledge-based economies, and unprecedented international mobility.  Fundamental changes in immigration policy are particularly necessary for nonimmigrant international educational and cultural exchange participants.  Ultimately, barriers to educational exchange, and failure by the INS to provide legally mandated services, stem from the absence of a strong policy.  Robust exchange programs--supported by an effective and efficient INS and a modern immigration policy--will deliver tangible benefits for U.S. national security, foreign policy, and competitiveness.  NAFSA urges: Congress to support the Bush administration's proposal for restructuring the INS by creating separate bureaus for services and enforcement, reporting directly to the commissioner, in order to clarify functions and improve accountability. the INS commissioner to create a special task force, to include representatives of the Department of State, to work with NAFSA to improve services for international students and scholars and to rationalize the employment-based immigration system. NAFSA will work with American Business for Legal Immigration and higher education associations on behalf of employment-based immigration and labor policies that facilitate the ability of educational and research institutions to attract the best international talent. U.S. Government-Funded Exchange Activities NAFSA strongly supports the international education and exchange programs sponsored by the Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, various offices of the Department of Education, the National Security Education Program, and other federal agencies.  The world-famous Fulbright Program, the International Visitors Program, the Gilman scholarship program, and others make fundamental contributions to vital and healthy educational and cultural relations between the United States and other nations.  NAFSA urges: the Bush administration and Congress to fund these programs at the highest possible levels.