International Education Data During Past Democrat and Republican Administrations in the United States

Today, Inside Higher Ed posted an article entitled "U.S. Politics and International Education" by Bradley Feuling, chairman and CEO of the Asia Institute.  Feuling analyzed historical Open Doors data during several past presidential administrations for both U.S. students studying abroad as well as international students studying in the U.S.  

Long-term data provide clear evidence that a 

Republican-led administration will play a significant -- 

and perhaps somewhat surprising -- 

role in influencing foreign student enrollments and study abroad.

It is a very interesting read and I encourage you to not only read the article but also to comment on what you think the new Trump Administration holds for the field of international education.  You can access the "U.S. Politics and International Education" article here.

The National Security Language Initiative (NSLI) Pipeline

Back in January, 2006 then-President George W. Bush announced the launch of the National Security Language Initiative (NSLI) with the Secretaries of State, Education and Defense along with the Director of National Intelligence coordinating this national effort to dramatically increase the learning, speaking and teaching skills of U.S. citizens in foreign languages deemed critical to U.S. national security. 

The NSLI is a “long-term investment in the nation’s critical foreign language learning capabilities and competencies” working to accomplish the following three goals[1]:

1.      Increase the number of U.S. residents studying critical-need languages and starting them at an earlier age;

2.      Increase the number of advanced-level speakers of foreign languages, with an emphasis on mastery of critical-need languages; and

3.      Increase the number of teachers of critical-need languages and providing resources for them.

The following figure provides a great visual of the National Security Language Initiative Pipeline and the various programs that are available for critical language learners.[2]

Those of you who are interested in learning more about NSLI and the preliminary results of the program will want to download the following report:

U.S. Department of Education, Office of Postsecondary Education, Enhancing Foreign Language Proficiency in the United States: Preliminary Results of the National Security Language Initiative, Washington, D.C., 2008.

Related IHEC Blog posts:

National Security Language Initiative for Youth (NSLI-Y)

The Language Flagship – Statements Before the House Armed Services Committee

Project Go – The ROTC Language & Culture Project

Cross-Cultural Awareness in the U.S. Military

Towards a More Cross-Culturally Competent United States Air Force

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[1] U.S. Department of Education, Office of Postsecondary Education, Enhancing Foreign Language Proficiency in the United States: Preliminary Results of the National Security Language Initiative, Washington, D.C., 2008, 1.

[2] Diagram of the “National Security Language Initiative Pipeline” obtained from Ibid., 2.