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“Internationalization by Stealth”: The U.S. National Higher Education Internationalization Policy-Making Arena in the Twenty-First Century

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Abstract

By map** novel national higher education internationalization policy initiatives in the USA in the first two decades of the twenty-first century, this study identifies the ways in which diverse national actors shaped policy directions between 2000 and 2019. The study identified 112 internationalization policy efforts initiated by leading national public, voluntary, and private agencies. These policy efforts comprised four policy categories: (a) international education at home; (b) international student recruitment; (c) education abroad; and (d) international institutional partnerships. Higher education internationalization policy emerged as actors from the public, voluntary, and private sectors complemented, supplemented, and at times opposed each other’s efforts.

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Notes

  1. https://www.iie.org/Research-and-Insights/Open-Doors/Economic-Impact-of-International-Students, accessed 14 December 2019.

  2. The data was consulted using the Ford Foundation Grants Database (https://www.fordfoundation.org/work/our-grants/grants-database/grants-all) on 21 January 2019.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Stony Brook University, New York, NY, USA

    Yovana S. Veerasamy & Snejana S. Durst

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  1. Yovana S. Veerasamy
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Citation from Crăciun (2018, p. 98).

Appendix: Novel Policy Efforts from Three Policy-Making Sectors between 2000 and 2019, under Four Policy Strands

Appendix: Novel Policy Efforts from Three Policy-Making Sectors between 2000 and 2019, under Four Policy Strands

Presidential periods

Public sector novel initiatives

Voluntary sector novel initiatives

Private sector novel initiatives

2000-2008 Clinton/Bush

2000 Memorandum on international education

2000 China PNTR

2001 Bush Policy Directive-2

2001 DLI programs

2001USA Patriot Act

2002 NSEP

2003 SEVIS electronic tracking of international students

2008 STEM extension

Internationalization at home

National Security Language initiative for Youth (2000)

Title VI programs FLAS/LCTL(2000-19)

Undergraduate International Studies and Foreign Language

Program (2000-19)

2002 NSEP

International student recruitment

SEVIS electronic tracking of international students (2003)

2001USA Patriot Act

2008 STEM extension

Education abroad

Extension of Youth exchange programs to Muslim countries YES programs (2003)

Extension of Youth exchange programs (A-SMYLE program to Serbia & Montenegro) (2005)

Commission on the Lincoln Study Abroad program (2005)

International Institutional Partnership

2000 China PNTR

Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education Advancing Internationalization through Institutional Self-Assessment Program (2001-2002)

FIPSE Institutional partnerships since (2000–2008)

EU-U.S. Atlantis program

Program for North America Mobility in higher education

U.S. Russia program: Improving research and educational activities in higher education

U.S. Brazil Higher Education Consortia Program - (persisted in the 2000s)

Internationalization at home

APLU Renewing the covenant … in a new and different world (2000)

ACE & Ford Foundation Project (2000)

ACE Hayward and Siaya, Public Experience, Attitudes, and Knowledge…Two National Surveys about International Education (2001)

ACE Brief Beyond 9/11 (2001)

ACE A Comprehensive National Policy on International education (2002)

ACE Internationalization in action (2003)

ACE Internationalizing the Campus (2003)

ACE/ Carnegie Corporation proposal on Internationalizing the Disciplines, (2003-2004)

APLU The Presidential role in internationalizing the campus (2004)

ACE and Lumina Fellows Program Advisory Group (2004)

AACC International Education Toolkit (2006)

AASCU Global Learning Value Rubric (2007)

International Student Recruitment

ACE Brief Beyond 9/11 (2001)

ACE A Comprehensive National Policy on International education (2002)

AACC Dynamic tool to recruit International Students (2003)

AACC Community college USA and International Students (2005)

AACC International Education Toolkit (2006)

Education Abroad

ACE A Comprehensive National Policy on International education (2002)

ACE Project on Campuses and Programs Abroad (2008)

International Institutional Partnership

ACE A Comprehensive National Policy on International education (2002)

AACC International Education Toolkit (2006)

AACC and China partnership CEAIE (2008)

Internationalization at home

ACE and Ford Foundation Project (2000)

ACE and Lumina Fellows Program Advisory Group (2004)

Lumina funded NCES education and the global economy (2006)

International student recruitment

Ford Foundation Scholarship to International Students from emerging nations (2001-2009)

Lumina and IIE aid to international students after Tsunami (2004)

Lumina access to higher education by immigrants (2005)

Lumina worker training for Hispanic male immigrants (2006)

Education Abroad

Lumina funded community college personnel to attend Study Abroad workshop (2007)

International Institutional Partnership

Lumina funded IHEP to consider the implications of the Bologna process on U.S. higher education (2007)

ACE and Lumina aided higher Education to implement post 9/11 VA (2008)

2009-2016 Obama

DLI programs

2012 STEM list extension

2012 DACA

2014 Immigration Initiatives in favor of highly skilled workers

Internationalization at home

Undergraduate International Studies and Foreign Language Program (2000-19)

Title VI programs FLAS/LCTL (2000-19)

ED & Lumina (2015)

To provide support to the Department of Education for the White House Initiatives on Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, and Educational Excellence for Hispanics to host convening and for project management support

International Student Recruitment

2012 STEM list extension

2012 DACA

2014 Immigration Initiatives in favor of highly skilled workers

Education Abroad

Extension of Youth exchange programs to Africa (YALI Program) (2010)

Mandela Washington Program (2012)

Extension of Youth exchange programs to South East Asia (Y-SEALI program) (2013)

International Institutional Partnership

Russia bilateral commission (2009)

Global Innovation Initiative (2013)

USAID African Higher education (2014)

FIPSE Institutional partnerships since (2009–2016)

EU-U.S. Atlantis program

Program for North America Mobility in higher education

U.S. Russia program: Improving research and educational activities in higher education

U.S. Brazil Higher Education Consortia Program

Internationalization at home

AASCU Educating Globally Competent Citizens: A Toolkit (2010)

AAU Report Partnering for a Prosperous and secure future (2012)

AACC Reclaiming the American Dream (2012)

APLU Commission on international initiatives (2016)

Lumina Achieving the Dream - To support Achieving the Dream’s research and practice development for articulating non-credit to credit pathways for community college students (2016)

International Student Recruitment

APLU Comprehensive Immigration Reform (2013)

APLU Commission on international initiatives (2016)

Education Abroad

AACC develop Study Abroad (2015)

APLU’s President supports Study Abroad (2015)

APLU Commission on international initiatives (2016)

International Institutional Partnership

AASCU China and Japan Studies institute (2010)

AAU Principles and Guidelines for establishing JT academic programs and campuses abroad (2014)

APLU Commission on international initiatives (2016)

Internationalization at home

Lumina - support to the Department of Education for the White House Initiatives on Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, and Educational Excellence for Hispanics to host convening and for project management support (2015)

Lumina Achieving the Dream - To support Achieving the Dream’s research and practice development for articulating non-credit to credit pathways for community college students (2016)

International Student Recruitment

Ford Foundation Scholarship to International Student from emerging nations (2009-2013)

Lumina with European Access network looked at international student access to higher education (2012-13)

Education Abroad

International Institutional Partnership

Ford funded the study of the African higher education landscape (2016)

2017-2019 Trump

2017 DLI programs

2017 Travel Ban Executive Order

2017 BAHA Executive Order

2017 Restrict Chinese student visas

2017 Phase out DACA

Internationalization at home

Undergraduate International Studies and Foreign Language Program (2000-19)

Title VI programs FLAS/LCTL (2000-19)

Letter by senator Schatz increase Title VI funding (2017)

Be GlobalReady Initiative. The International and Foreign Language Education (IFLE) office debuted a series of images and messages to encourage U.S. students, teachers, and citizens to be “global ready” (ED, 2017)

International Student Recruitment

2017 BAHA Executive Order

2017 Restrict Chinese student visas

2017 Phase out DACA

AACC Work in conjunction with DOS on its International Visitor Leadership Program DOS (2019)

Education Abroad

AACC Work in conjunction with DOS on its International Visitor Leadership Program DOS (2019)

International Institutional Partnership

FIPSE Institutional partnerships since (2016–2019)

EU-U.S. Atlantis program

Program for North America Mobility in higher education

U.S. Russia program: Improving research and educational activities in higher education

U.S. Brazil Higher Education Consortia Program

Internationalization at home

APLU Pervasive Internationalization (2017)

APLU Summit Report (2017)

AASCU Public Policy Agenda (2019)

International Student Recruitment

Big Six letter writing campaign against Travel Ban, DACA (2017)

AAU,ACE,APLU NAFSA Value of international students (2017)

AACC Work in conjunction with DOS on its International Visitor Leadership Program DOS (2019)

Education Abroad

ACE Report Map** Internationalization suggest using Education Abroad (2017)

ACE COIL with SUNY New York (2018)

AACC Work in conjunction with DOS on its International Visitor Leadership Program DOS (2019)

International Institutional Partnership

AACC MOUs includes France (2018)

AACC bilateral talks with Mexico over impact of border wall on CC students (2018)

ACE and Lumina Global Forum for the exchange of ideas (2017)

ACE COIL with SUNY New York (2018)

ACE and Lumina GAIN network (2018)

Internationalization at home

Ford Foundation grant to the IIE to increase global learning (2019)

International Student Recruitment

Ford Foundation increase scholarship for refugee students (2019)

Education Abroad

International Institutional Partnership

ACE and Lumina - Alliance for Global innovation in Tertiary Education (2017)

ACE & Lumina Global Forum for the exchange of ideas (2017)

ACE & Lumina GAIN network (2018)

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Veerasamy, Y.S., Durst, S.S. “Internationalization by Stealth”: The U.S. National Higher Education Internationalization Policy-Making Arena in the Twenty-First Century. High Educ Policy 36, 307–328 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41307-021-00257-7

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