Dear Erica,
As we shared last week, federal international education programs are under threat. The president’s “skinny” budget for fiscal year 2026 proposed cutting funding for State Department Educational and Cultural Exchanges by 93 percent. Since then, the Department of Education announced it is withdrawing the FY 2025 application for the Fulbright-Hays program—which provides current and prospective educators with the global perspectives their students need—effectively grinding this 60-year-old program to a halt. More information is in this Inside Higher Ed story.
These long-standing, proven, and transformational programs need voices like yours to attest to their value—and demonstrate to elected officials they have popular support! See below for an easy way to take action.
The stressful saga regarding SEVIS records continues, without any official guidance from the Department of Homeland Security. Meanwhile, judges have ordered that some SEVIS records be reactivated and they have been—only to later for some to be re-terminated for unclear reasons. NAFSA is now tracking this phenomenon. Be sure the PDSO or DSO on your campus is aware of this information gathering effort and ask them to complete NAFSA’s short webform. It is completely anonymous.
Meanwhile, research is mounting that a restrictive and unpredictable policy environment does have an effect on international student choices. The Global Enrollment Benchmark Survey summary report was released this week and in terms of enrollment numbers and student interest, the United States and two of the other “Big Four” (Canada and Australia) are suffering from declines. The United Kingdom, Europe, and Asia are reaping the benefits. Download the full report and register for a May 20 webinar to hear leaders from NAFSA, Studyportals, and Oxford Test of English discuss the results and the implications for higher ed. institutions and policymakers.
The benefits of attracting and retaining global talent are vast and long-lasting. A recently released report prepared by Intead in partnership with NAFSA speaks to the contributions of international students to the U.S. economy and workforce after graduation—especially in critical STEM fields. The latest Emerging Futures report by IDP Education reveals how important graduate employment is to international students, outweighing institutional ranking for a majority of them.
WHAT YOU CAN DO:
Urge your members of Congress to stand strong for federal international education and exchange programs and flag this campaign for your networks: nafsa.org/DefendIE.
Share NAFSA’s tool for tracking SEVIS record reactivations and re-terminations with your DSO/PDSO.
Read and share this recap of the major policy and regulatory practice activity—and advocacy success!—in the first 100 days of the Trump presidency in this month’s issue of International Educator.
Thank you for reading and responding!
Best,
Erica
Erica Stewart
Senior Director, Advocacy & Strategic Communications
NAFSA: Association of International Educators
