By Tara Hofmann, President and CEO of AFS Intercultural Programs/USA
Last week, AFS-USA, along with other leaders in international student exchange, met with Deputy Assistant Secretary Bernadine Futrell who represented the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) to discuss the importance of exchange programs and how the DOE can work with international exchange programs to encourage more American schools to host international students.
For more than 30 years, I have worked in the field of international education and I’ve witnessed the positive impact international education has had, not just on the lives of teenagers who study in the U.S. or abroad, but also on the families who host, the volunteers who help to make student exchanges possible, the schools in which students study, and the classmates and educators the students interact with daily. The necessity for international education is evident. But it’s not just because of the times in which we are living, and this is not just about AFS-USA. We have a responsibility as a society to develop globally engaged young people, especially teenagers, who will lead us to a more peaceful, sustainable future.
The U.S. Department of State and U.S. Department of Education agree that we must be committed to empowering our young people to become the kind of leaders that our world needs. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona, on behalf of the U.S. Department of State and U.S. Department of Education, released a letter in 2023 about the value of hosting international students, encouraging school superintendents to welcome students into their schools and communities. Secretary Cardona has said in this recent video:
“Welcoming foreign students, teachers, and professionals to the U.S. on exchanges brings different perspectives to American classrooms, deepening the discussions students have on international issues. These experiences do so much to enrich learning.”
Exchange programs would not be possible without the schools across the U.S. who open their doors annually to welcome students for a year or a semester. AFS-USA partners with more than 1,000 high schools across the U.S. and engages with over 8,000 educators through in-person and virtual programs, resources, and professional development opportunities. We recognize the importance of creating opportunities for young people and their teachers to connect across differences and divides, engage in challenging dialogues, see past what divides us, and discover the many ways in which we are similar. The intercultural learning that results from exchange students being fully immersed in U.S. schools is imperative to public diplomacy efforts:
“We often hear from our partners and participants how our students are expanding American host families’ appreciation for other cultures, or how American classmates are learning about critical world concerns from the perspective of students who have grown up elsewhere.” – Nicole Elkon, Deputy Assistant Secretary, Professional and Cultural Exchanges, Education and Cultural Affairs · U.S. Department of State.
Last week’s meeting was uplifting, and I look forward to continuing collaborations between AFS-USA, the U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Department of State, and our colleagues in the exchange industry. Together we can inspire and support more schools to welcome exchange students as we prepare the next generation to become the kind of global citizens that the world needs.