Grassroots Advocacy Outcomes

Participating in grassroots advocacy can make a difference for international education. Below are some positive legislative and regulatory outcomes that are a direct result of actions taken by ACT members and other international education supporters.

2007

• As of early September, NAFSAns have sent over 2300 letters to Capitol Hill (1564 letters to the Senate and 835 to the House) urging support of the Simon Study Abroad Act. The bill has passed in the House and is now in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee where it is awaiting a vote.
  
  
• Advocacy Day 2007 participants secured 18 House and Senate cosponsors for the Simon Study Abroad Act.

• The 1000+ letters NAFSAns sent to Congress during the immigration debate raised congressional awareness of the impact proposed provisions would have on international students and scholars, university campuses and the U.S.'s ability to compete for international talent.


• Legislatures in seven states passed supportive international education resolutions thanks to member advocacy efforts. Read more.
  
  

2006

• The 1,100-plus letters NAFSAns sent to Congress in the summer of 2006 resulted in securing 46 Senate cosponsors for the Abraham Lincoln Study Abroad Act of 2006 (S.3744) and increasing congressional awareness of international education issues.
  
  
• NAFSAns' 1,145-plus letters to Congress and the State Department in May 2006 led to the withdrawal of a proposed training and intern rule (RIN: 1400-AC15) that would have prohibited foreign undergraduate students from doing internships in the United States as well as eliminated some opportunities for U.S. postsecondary students to participate in similar experiences abroad.
  
  
• Advocacy Day 2006 participants secured six additional cosponsors for H. Con. Res. 100, the International Education Policy resolution. The House cosponsors were from the following states: Hawaii, Oregon, Ohio, Virginia, Mississippi, and Arkansas.
  
  
• The successful immigration reform letter-writing campaign throughout 2006 enabled NAFSA to influence the debate by working with key members of Congress to include provisions in the SKIL and Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act that were favorable to international students and scholars.
  
  
• During NAFSA's 2006 Annual Conference, more than 1,150 participants signed a petition that was sent to President Bush asking him to include between $50 million and $125 million in his fiscal year 2008 budget for the Abraham Lincoln Study Abroad program.

2005

• In November 2005, NAFSAns at more than 70 U.S. institutions provided NAFSA’s public policy staff the data needed to advocate the Embassy of Spain to resolve a lack of availability of visa appointments at the Chicago consulate that was affecting 2,000-plus American study abroad students. As a result, the consulate opened new appointments and increased its capacity to process student visa applications. Read more