The Faces of International Education

It is no secret that international education is big business. NAFSA’s Economic Value Tool estimates that international students contributed $39 billion to the U.S. economy and supported more than 455,000 jobs during the 2017–18 academic year.

But beyond the numbers, every one of the more than 1 million international students and scholars in the United States has his or her own story to tell. These individuals enrich campuses, bring fresh perspectives to classrooms, offer new insights in the arts, start businesses, and make untold contributions to scientific research. In some cases, they have overcome significant challenges to come to the United States.

Here are profiles of six exceptional international students and scholars who, building on their educational experiences in the United States, have gone on to make significant contributions to both the United States and their home country.

For every personal story shared in this article, there are thousands more like it—a testament to the work that international educators do every day.

Camilo Navarro

Home country: Chile
Education: Management and Business Track, Entrepreneurship & Project Management, International Diploma Program (2017), the University of California-Berkeley Extension
Current position: Cofounder and Chief Operations Officer, Wheel the World

During a solo trip to Patagonia, Camilo Navarro, 33, realized he wanted to help his friend Alvaro Silberstein, who was in a wheelchair, have the same experience. They crowdfunded a special trekking wheelchair and shot a documentary about their exploration of Torres del Paine National Park in southern Chile. Their story went viral.

The documentary’s