WorldView Magazine - Summer 2009 - (Page 30)

Opinion A STEP IN ThE RIGhT DIRECTION Welcoming international students to the U.S. is in all of our best interests by Mike Peter A ccording to the Institute of International Education’s 2008 “Open Doors” report, the United States hosted 623,805 international higher-education students in 2008. This number represents the largest population of international students studying in the United States in at least 50 years. Today, nearly 3.7% of college students in the United States come from another country. Since the 1950s the number of international higher-education students in the United States has increased steadily nearly every year. In fact, in that same period, the only time when the number of international students in this country decreased year-over-year was directly following the attacks of September 11, 2001. The primary cause of this anomaly makes sense; in late 2001 the United States tightened the guidelines for granting and lengthened the process of delivering student visas. In 2002, 2003 and 2004, as fewer first time students were admitted, the overall number of international students studying in this country declined. However, stricter visa policies are just one contributing factor to the diminishing number of foreign students observed earlier this decade. While the higher education resources of the United States are unrivaled, many other nations are now competing more successfully for study abroad participants. These countries are taking creative steps to design incentives for foreign nationals interested in pursuing higher education. According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, data from 2004 clearly demonstrates that many countries welcome a higher percentage of 0 Summer 2009 international students, compared to overall student population, than the United States: United Kingdom: 16.2% Germany: 11.2% France: 11% Canada: 10.6% United States: 3.4% This keen interest in attracting foreign students is largely due to the following associated benefits: • There is a direct and positive economic stimulus associated with hosting international students. In the United States this benefit is estimated at around $15.5 billion annually. • Some representatives of the top talent that enter study abroad programs remain in the host county following that course of study. These individuals contribute critical intellectual capital to their adopted nations. • Cross-cultural exchange of ideas and experience is immeasurably valuable. Foreign visitors better understand the benefits and quirks of their host culture just as that host culture gains an outside perspective. As NPCA members, it makes sense to pay attention to the state of international scholarship within the United States. Our passion to “connect, inform and engage” an international association of volunteers, and the communities they serve, logically ties to the primary advantages students and host countries gain from global educational exchange. As technological advances, communication speed and population growth continue to reduce the once vast geographic, and cultural distances between nations, it follows that open, tolerant societies will have a distinct advantage adapting to increasingly rapid rates of change. In today’s turbulent times the one given is that change will come. The key to successfully managing that change is directly linked to how closely our societies are tied into the global community of nations. Study abroad programs are perhaps the most effective way to fully immerse a stranger into a foreign environment and provide sufficient context for them to understand the nuance behind observed difference. As stewards of international education and diplomacy, members of the NPCA can play an important role in making compelling arguments for opening doors to student visitors and welcoming the unique perspectives and insights they have to share. We should be making the case for expanding Mike Peter

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of WorldView Magazine - Summer 2009

WorldView Magazine - Summer 2009
Contents
More Peace Corps Campaign: Better and Bolder!
Africa Rural Connect
Readers Write
You Too Can Be Bill Gates
Taking Peace Corps Back into the Field
Come for the Information, Stay for the Dancing
A “Green” Community Rising
Microfinance Pioneer Receives 2009 Shriver Award
The Colombia Project
A Voice for the Unheard
Hear Ye, Hear Ye: Microfinance Podcasts
Selected Microfinance Resources
Bicycle! Bamenda! Orange!
Luck and Fame
A Step in the Right Direction
Bringing What She Loves
Letter from Botswana: First Tongues of the Kalahari
Letter from Tanzania: Homo Sapien in Africa
In the Beginning (There Was John)
The Peace Corps Community Making a Difference
Community News
Advertiser Index

WorldView Magazine - Summer 2009

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