Member Support Statement

The International Coalition for Global Education and Exchange member support statement

The devastating world wars that dominated the first half of the 20th century gave rise to the idea that to ensure a long-lasting peace, people of the world needed to come together to share their ideas, their cultures, and their hearts. To this end, over the last 75 years, many nations have developed formal international education and intercultural exchange programs that encourage young people to embark on voyages of personal and global discovery, creating opportunities to forge cross-cultural relationships that ultimately strengthen public diplomacy.

These vital people-to-people exchange programs provide young people with educational and professional opportunities, while helping them develop skills, such as empathy and understanding of diverse cultures and societies, that are necessary to compete in a globally interconnected world. Just as importantly, the interpersonal connections developed through international education and exchange experiences enhance international collaboration, understanding, and security.

Each year, the United States alone welcomes more than 1.3 million international students, scholars, interns, young professionals, au pairs, teachers and others on J-1 and F-1 visa programs, contributing more than $45 billion to the U.S. economy according to the U.S. Department of Commerce. At the same time, more than 300,000 American students and young professionals go abroad to study, intern, volunteer, teach, and care for children*. Similar people-to-people exchanges take place between countries all over the world, and grow in size, scope and diversity each year.

Today, the field of international education and exchange is under threat, facing an existential crisis as people and nations have, by necessity, turned inward to slow the transmission of pandemics or had their societies interrupted by violent regime changes . But as pandemics ebb and leadership transitions yield, our work will, in many ways, be more important than ever. The skills and connections developed through decades of people-to-people exchange will be necessary to ensure that humanity does not indefinitely retreat from engaging with other countries and cultures. Furthermore, young people who have developed intercultural and empathy skills through an exchange experience are uniquely qualified to meet the current moment, and to address challenges such as  societal inequality and racism.

As the businesses, institutions, families, associations, and community leaders who embrace and support international education and exchange, we ask our leaders to envision more global connections, not fewer. We strongly believe that all nations should invest in and support international education and exchange, in order to achieve a more peaceful and collaborative global society.

*Source: IIE Open Doors, 2019.