NAFSA Executive Director Calls for White House Council to Lead National Effort on International Students, Scholars

WASHINGTON – In testimony June 29 on Capitol Hill, NAFSA: Association of International Educators Executive Director and CEO Marlene M. Johnson urged Congress to ensure the establishment of an International Education Council charged with spearheading a national effort to restore the United States’ attractiveness as a destination for international students and scholars.

Emphasizing the important contributions of international educational exchange to U.S. foreign policy and public diplomacy efforts, Johnson’s testimony put the current international enrollment numbers into perspective: “For all the good work that the administration says it does—and let me stipulate that I agree that there is much good work being done—the numbers don’t lie,” said Johnson. “The numbers tell us that international student enrollment at America’s colleges and universities has declined for three years in a row. That has never happened before. Last year, enrollment was below what it was in the academic year that was commencing on 9/11, and more than 20,000 below what it was during the 2002 academic year, which was the peak year. If growth trends in the years before 9/11 had continued, enrollment last year would have been more than 700,000.”

Johnson also highlighted the barriers and disincentives with respect to visa processing, border entry policy, and other measures that continue to prevent too many international students and scholars from studying and conducting research at U.S. academic institutions. Stressing the importance of addressing these barriers, Johnson said: “Some would say that security dictated all those measures. But it is not true that the more open we are to international students and scholars, the less secure we are. This is not a zero-sum game. The fact is, our openness is part of our security.”

Johnson asked Congress to take a number of specific steps to improve the ability of the United States to compete successfully in attracting the world’s talent:

• Establish an International Education Council, chaired by a senior White House official, to spearhead the removal or modification of the numerous barriers to study and research in the United States.
• Conduct oversight of the relationship between the Departments of State and Homeland Security, to which it has given shared responsibility for visa policy.
• Repeal the requirement that the State Department interview virtually every visa applicant, a requirement that has not enhanced security in a meaningful way, has overburdened consular resources, and is a deterrent to talented people, many of whom do not live near a U.S. consulate.
• Enact immigration reform that includes strong provisions to make the United States more attractive to international talent.

Johnson spoke June 29 before a joint hearing of the House Foreign Affairs Committee International Organizations, Human Rights, and Oversight Subcommittee and the House Education and Labor Committee Higher Education, Lifelong Learning, and Competitiveness Subcommittee, on the subject of “International Students and Visiting Scholars: Trends, Barriers, and Implications for American Universities and U.S. Foreign Policy.” The hearing was chaired by Rep. William Delahunt (D-Mass.), who called attracting international students and scholars to the United States an investment with an “incalculable” return and said: “The Administration needs to consider this very seriously. Congress also needs to ratchet it up and deal with reality. This is a critical moment in our history.”

With nearly 10,000 members, NAFSA: Association of International Educators seeks to increase awareness of and support for international education and exchange in higher education, government, and the community, believing that citizens with international experience and global awareness are crucial to U.S. leadership, competitiveness, and security. Johnson has served as CEO and executive director of the association since 1998 and is a former lieutenant governor of Minnesota.