StudyAbroad.com’s The Globe

A Message about Study Abroad to the Next President

The Association of International Educators, NAFSA, has some advice for the next President of the United States, whomever that may be, when it comes to the important national goal of sending more American students to study abroad each year. Since the presidency is directly involved with public diplomacy, NAFSA has put some of the responsibility of increasing study abroad in the hands of the commander in chief.

NAFSA’s view of “public diplomacy” has to do with study abroad as a conduit to a better international understanding not only for American students, but of other countries’ understanding of what America “is.” This makes sense when you think about the fact that the way other cultures get to know one another has much to do with how much interaction they share. Study abroad is an excellent way for cultures to become acquainted, and is doubly important because the students who study abroad each year are the ones who will someday lead this world.

This idea of studying abroad for the public and national good is nothing new, but the fact that NAFSA is already beginning to put pressure on the future leader of the “free world” is something rather groundbreaking. While the presidential candidates argue about energy, abortion issues, taxes, national security and the war in Iraq, there are essential issues in higher education that are being placed on the backburner. In order to have a skilled workforce that can create new energy policies and solutions, keep the nation secure and come up with resolutions for international conflict, the country needs more citizens with experience outside of their own American culture. Really, the issue of study abroad is essential to all the main issues facing the presidential candidates.

In NAFSA’s recommendations, which they released in the form of a report, entitled International Education: The Neglected Dimension of Public Diplomacy, the Association calls for three things:

· “Internationalizing” American higher education by including study abroad as an essential element of any undergraduate program;

· Attracting more international students to study abroad in the States, so that the country can lure the best and brightest from other nations as well and;

· Creating and improving more international exchange and volunteer programs between countries.

None of these goals seem too lofty, but one of the real questions is where the money to fund these study abroad experiences will come from. Obviously, NAFSA would like the federal government to help foot the bill, but it will take more than that to make these study abroad initiatives a reality. More students need to demand better and more study abroad program choices, and more colleges and universities need to find out how to make that happen for their students. Perhaps corporations and businesses can be enticed by the benefits of study abroad, enough to sponsor new ways to get American students studying on foreign soil. All of this remains to be seen, but to Obama and McCain: we hope you got NAFSA’s message!