NAFSA Blog

NAFSA Members Take to the HillOnce again, I am inspired by the energy from our community of international education advocates. Last week nearly 100 of you from across the country came to Washington, D.C., for NAFSA’s Advocacy Day, and the

"Please stop. I speak English."By Matt Sugrue With great confidence, I strode purposefully to the counter of the patisserie and said, “Ithnaan al qahwa min fa…” The young man working behind the counter raised his hands in front of him

Germany and the Competition for Globally Mobile StudentsI still vividly remember the trip to Germany during which I learned that some higher education institutions there were offering course work, and in some cases entire degrees, in English as well as

Welcome to Vancouver It is a pleasure for NAFSA to introduce Carol Zachs, LAT communications chair for the 2011 Annual Conference & Expo. Carol's expertise about Vancouver will provide you with an insider's look into what the city has to

Leadership Needed to Make Study Abroad Work for More StudentsRecently, an Associated Press article that tells the story of one African American student’s experience with study abroad caught my eye. The student, Sade Adeyina, almost didn’t pursue an opportunity to

The Great Budget Debate of 2011 Setting a Course for a Competitive, Prosperous FutureOne of our country’s periodic “great debates” is in full swing. This one constitutes an early round in the national conversation that we need to have about

The Way Forward Panel Discusses Next Steps for Fostering U.S. Cuba EngagementEarlier this week I attended an event at the Brookings Institution called “U.S. Cuba Relations Moving Policy forward in 2011 and Beyond,” that was organized in light of the

Getting It Right The Need for a National Dialogue on Comprehensive InternationalizationThere have been some interesting discussions recently about the future of internationalization of U.S. higher education. From more than one quarter, including a recent NAFSA task force last fall,

What Americans Say About Investing in International Education, Even in Challenging Economic TimesThe frequent drumbeat of “no new spending” and “pay down the debt” in Washington can be puzzling for people who know instinctively that even when times are tough,

First Lady Michelle Obama Says Study Abroad and "100,000 Strong" Initiative Make America Stronger Michelle Obama captivated an audience at Howard University this morning in talking about the importance of study abroad. The First Lady’s speech was scheduled as part