According to data by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement from January 2014, by far most of the foreign students in the United States came from China, India, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Japan and Taiwan:
Source: SVEP (Student and Exchange Visitor Information System)
One of the panelists, Neil Ruiz, a Senior Analyst and Associate Fellow, Metropolitan Policy Program at the Brookings Institution, made one very important point in my opinion: he viewed these foreign students as true global ambassadors, that might go back to their home countries, where they apply their new skills and directly influence their domestic economy.
Factually speaking, the United States still offers highly valued graduate and post graduate education, which attracts qualified students from around the globe, albeit still only making up about 4% of the total students body in those universities. Our sons and daughters learn problem solving with classmates from different backgrounds in elementary school already. We should embrace international students bodies at universities more, as no free nation in the world stands alone in its attempt to solve global issues. Diversity and globalization go hand in hand. If we want to tackle the biggest challenge, that humanity has ever faced, namely global warming, we need to collaborate, align our STEM resources and share knowledge, not preventing others from riding along on the learning curve.
By enrolling foreign students in American universities, we invest into the future of their home countries. Study abroad opportunities empower women to gain a higher education, create global networks and foster research in critical areas. Our university bound sons and daughters will benefit through increased global awareness and connecting to people in their field of study from around the world. Politicians and companies's CEOs collaborate all the time, academia should be the third component of interconnectedness.
The local economy benefits from foreign students in much the same way as from tourism in this region. Restaurants, taxi companies, bike rentals, entertainment centers, etc. base their existence on students in general. Foreign students might even be more interested in experiencing American culture first hand and thus immerse themselves more into the local economy.
I understand this discussion can not go without shedding light on the validity of our immigration politics. But I would much rather put the power into the communities in which our children grow up in. It is here, where the change has to happen, so that we don't live in a fear driven world. The strength of the educational system in the United States has always been its community aspect. "It takes a village to raise a child", Hillary Clinton once said. I will state: "It takes a world to raise a child". My plea for education is simple: teach foreign languages as a core subject from an early age on, place globes and world maps in classrooms and continue to organize intercultural events at schools and universities.
And let's be honest, with Public Diplomacy, Hollywood and Sesame Street, young students abroad learn about the United States and what is/might be "typical American". I remember brochures by "EF Tours" (Education First) lying in my German high school's subschool office. I was intrigued by the possibility of spending a high school year abroad. However, it was not until college, where an internship in Los Angeles taught me the challenges of the medical technology market and ultimately led me to research this topic more as part of my master thesis.
The effect of globalization on education might be represented through this cute video clip by Sesame Street's character "Elmo". In the video "Fun, Fun, Elmo", the red fuzzy character teaches basic Mandarin Chinese, all on scene what I might think of a typical street in New York:
My intent of including this video is to demonstrate that we have adopted parts of other cultures so well into our American society, it might be time for other countries to do the same. Education is the basis for all economic development and can be a great equalizer among nations and ultimately lead to regional stability.
