Latitudes: A new coalition will advocate for a coordinated national strategy on international students

Also, Republican lawmakers want to revive a federal investigation into academic ties to China. ADVERTISEMENT [Latitudes Logo]( You can also [read this newsletter on the web](. Or, if you no longer want to receive this newsletter, [unsubscribe](. A new coalition hopes to speak with “one voice” for international students A new coalition of education organizations, advocacy groups, and think tanks is pushing for a coordinated national strategy to reassert the United States as the leading destination for global talent, to ensure the success of foreign students on American campuses, and to establish immigration pathways to help retain top international graduates. The group, the [U.S. for Success Coalition]( has also made diversifying international enrollments a priority, seeking to attract students from different countries and regions and from varied backgrounds, including low-income students, women, and those from the Global South. In addition, it wants to expand the range of institutions that host international students, such as community colleges, historically Black colleges, and practical and experiential training programs. Just 10 colleges currently enroll 15 percent of all international students in the United States, according to the Institute of International Education. The coalition’s founding members include some of the most prominent voices in international education, like NAFSA: Association of International Educators. Fanta Aw, NAFSA’s executive director, said the coordinated effort could amplify their message beyond that of a single organization going it alone. “It is important that we really speak with one voice,” Aw said. “Together, we can make more inroads.” Coalition partners argue that the time is right for a major push on international students. [Deep declines]( in new international enrollments during the pandemic forced many colleges to confront what their campuses would look like without the presence of foreign students. Poisonous politics, a slow response to the Covid outbreak, and a national reckoning with racism have [dented]( America’s image abroad. And while the United States remains the top destination for students from overseas, it has lost ground, falling from 28 percent of all globally mobile students in 2001 to just 15 percent today. Amit Sevak, chief executive of ETS, another coalition member, compared the headwinds in attracting international students to a “five-alarm fire.” “This is a moment right now where we think there is a need for a real call to action,” said Sevak, whose company administers several major international standardized exams, for graduate admissions and English-language proficiency. “We want to change perceptions of the U.S. We want to change the narrative.” But it’s also a moment of opportunity: The Biden administration has said it intends to strengthen and promote American education globally. A joint statement, signed by several federal agencies, called for a “renewed U.S. commitment” to international education. “As U.S. federal agencies involved in different aspects of international education, we commit to undertaking actions to support a renewed focus on international education,” the [July 2021 statement]( said. Yet the Biden administration’s follow-through has disappointed some in higher education, who had hoped that federal officials would push for a broad-reaching national strategy for international education, as in many countries that compete with the United States. While not criticizing the government, coalition members said stakeholder groups could be powerful voices for change and could “model” potential policies. As an example, Miriam Feldblum, executive director of the Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration, a nonprofit group that advocates for policies friendly to international students, pointed to a pilot program by the U.S. Department of State to allow colleges to [privately sponsor refugee students]( an approach originally advocated by higher education and others. While many of the coalition partners have previously worked together, the new effort represents a sustained commitment, not a short-term campaign. Feldblum said it was important that the coalition focus on the “whole picture” of international-student success. Members include organizations devoted to international recruitment, like AIRC: The Association of International Enrollment Management; those that support academic and cultural exchange, like the Alliance for International Exchange; and immigration-advocacy groups, such as FWD.us. Among the coalition’s goals are to support best practices for campus support of international students and ethical student recruitment. It will also press to expand opportunities to allow international graduates to [stay in the United States and work]( through access to short-term training programs as well as pathways to permanent residency and immigration. Feldblum said the coalition is meant to be a “big tent.” Its founders hope to expand its membership to include colleges, the business sector, and even towns and regions that see the benefits of international students in their communities. And while earlier efforts have advocated for international education broadly, the coalition has been deliberate in its focus on international students, Aw said. “We have a moral obligation and an educational imperative to make sure students are the center of this work.” ADVERTISEMENT NEWSLETTER [Sign Up for the Teaching Newsletter]( Find insights to improve teaching and learning across your campus. Delivered on Thursdays. To read this newsletter as soon as it sends, [sign up]( to receive it in your email inbox. Republican lawmakers try to restart investigation of China ties Congressional Republicans are trying to revive the China Initiative, the federal-government investigation of academic and economic ties with China that cast a pall over international research collaborations. The House Appropriations Committee has included language reinstating the inquiry in a bill that would fund the U.S. Department of Justice and several other federal agencies for the 2024 fiscal year. In an [explanatory document]( for the spending bill posted online, the committee called the Justice Department’s February 2022 decision to [shut down]( the China Initiative “unwise” and “deeply irresponsible.” The “decision is an example of weakness from a Justice Department more concerned with being politically correct than protecting Americans, and stands in stark contrast to the actions of other federal agencies that have taken steps in recognition of the extraordinary long-term threat China poses to the United States,” the document stated. It directed the department to “re-establish an office dedicated to countering espionage and influence efforts against American businesses, research institutions, and academia emanating from” the Chinese government. The controversial probe, begun in 2018 under President Donald J. Trump, put joint research and other academic collaboration with Chinese scientists and universities under a microscope. Officials argued that the [scrutiny]( was warranted because of the potential for a geopolitical rival to steal scientific secrets or other intellectual property. Despite its high profile, the investigation resulted in few convictions. (A notable exception was Charles M. Lieber, a former chairman of Harvard University’s chemistry department, who was [found guilty]( of lying to the U.S. government.) Nonetheless, the inquiry had far-reaching consequences for colleges, for science, and, most especially, for researchers of Chinese and Asian descent. Joint publications by Chinese and American scientists have declined since the beginning of the China Initiative. Some researchers pulled back from working with Chinese colleagues and declined to apply for federal grants, worried that they could fall under suspicion. In announcing an official end to the China Initiative, Matthew Olsen, assistant attorney general for national security, said the investigation had “fueled a narrative of intolerance and bias.” Advocacy groups expressed alarm at efforts to bring back the China Initiative. Gisela Perez Kusakawa, executive director of Asian American Scholar Forum, said reinstating the inquiry would be “one significant step back, reversing the progress we have made, not only for the Asian American community, but for our country as a whole.” She noted that the investigation had led to civil-rights concerns and risked undermining American scientific leadership. “We call on our government to live up to our American values and adhere to the principles of inclusion, diversity, and equity that have helped our country become a beacon for freedom and a global leader in science and technology,” Kusakawa said. On [X]( Divyansh Kaushik, associate director for emerging technologies and national security at the Federation of American Scientists, said that the Republican proposal ignores the fact that the federal government has [continued to look into]( allegations of foreign interference and research-security violations on college campuses. “The problem,” he wrote, was that the House legislation “would actually reduce the scope of current investigations by only looking at China and ignore Russia, Iran, North Korea, and other adversaries.” Even if the Justice Department spending measure passes the House, the China Initiative provision could still face an uphill climb to become law. The Senate, where Democrats are in the majority, would also need to approve the bill, and leaders in that chamber have criticized other House appropriations bills as [overly partisan](. Meanwhile, a pair of House committee chairmen announced they would investigate the National Science Foundation’s research-security practices. In a [letter]( to Sethuraman Panchanathan, the science agency’s director, Rep. James Comer, a Kentucky Republican who chairs the oversight committee, and Rep. Frank Lucas, a Oklahoma Republican who chairs the science committee, questioned whether American universities and laboratories are vulnerable to “undisclosed and illegal transfers of information, technology, and intellectual property.” “These institutions should study science in a transparent manner that encourages collaboration, attracts the top scientific minds to the United States, and fosters discoveries,” Lucas and Comer wrote. “However, a priority of any research-security policy should be to prevent U.S.-funded research from being stolen. We must do all we can to protect our innovation system and taxpayer-funded research from systematic attempts to exploit, degrade, and misappropriate our open system of science.” [For more background]( I talked earlier this year with the NSF’s chief of research-security strategy and policy about steps the agency was taking to protect research while continuing to encourage international academic collaboration. FROM THE CHRONICLE STORE [College as a Public Good - The Chronicle Store]( [College as a Public Good]( Public confidence in higher education has fallen in recent years, with barely half of Americans seeing it in a positive light. [Order this report today]( to examine the many roles colleges play in their local communities and how institutions are reimagining their outreach to rebuild public trust. New rankings methodology eliminates metrics for international students U.S. News & World Report changed its methodology for ranking American colleges this fall with [great fanfare]( saying that the new metrics better reflect student outcomes. But the tweaks also eliminated a number of measures that include international students, instead favoring more “domestic-centric” indicators, Ryan M. Allen and Tomoko Takahashi wrote in a [recent column]( in Inside Higher Ed. For example, the new methodology incorporates federal data that compares earnings of college and high-school graduates, which excludes international graduates of American colleges. Likewise, indicators of first-generation and low-income student success focus on recipients of federal student aid, for which foreign students are not eligible. At the same time, U.S. News dropped measures for class size and alumni giving, which do include international students. Taken together, metrics that preclude international students now account for more than 20 percent of both the national university and other college rankings, up from 10 percent the year before, according to Allen, an assistant professor of comparative and international education and leadership, and Takahashi, vice president for institutional research and assessment and dean of the graduate school, both at Soka University of America. It’s important that the rankings focus more on underrepresented American students, but doing so “should not come at the expense of international students,” the pair wrote. Allen told me that one of the biggest problems with the rejiggered rankings is that international students in particular tend to rely on them because they don’t necessarily have the same knowledge of American institutions as domestic students do. “There is an admitted currency that rankings have when globally mobile,” he said. “The move to more domestic indicators is too insular for our sector.” I asked U.S. News about the critique. In a statement, a spokesperson told me that the publication relies on the “best available data” to compile its rankings. “U.S. News would wholeheartedly support additional data collection around these metrics to include international students,” the spokesperson wrote. Around the globe An executive order issued by President Biden could ease visa requirements for students and researchers in [artificial intelligence]( and other critical and emerging technologies to study or work in the United States. The presidents of Israel’s top universities have written another [joint letter]( to college presidents worldwide, calling for “a sea change in clarity and truth in academia on the matter of Israel’s war against Hamas.” In an [earlier letter]( they asked higher-education leaders to renounce violence by Hamas and Islamic Jihad, another Palestinian group that has been labeled a terrorist organization. Students at Macalester College have started a [petition]( to end the liberal-arts college’s study-abroad programs at two Israeli colleges. Before the war, some campus chapters of Students for Justice in Palestine had called for a [boycott]( of education-abroad travel to Israel. More than 100 Palestinian students have been [suspended]( by Israeli universities, according to academics and lawyers working with them. Russia’s Education Ministry has reportedly told universities not to openly discuss “[negative political, economic, and social trends]( in the classroom. Britain’s national research agency has suspended a diversity advisory panel after the country’s science minister called for the group to be [disbanded]( over some members’ public comments about the Israel-Hamas war that she viewed as “extremist.” Doctoral programs in the U.K. have been rocked by [sharp declines]( in the number of students from China and the European Union. Canada will require colleges to [verify]( all international-admissions offers with the country’s immigration agency. A scientist now leading Chinese efforts to develop advanced artificial-intelligence technology got more than $30 million in [U.S. federal grants](. A member-interest group for [international alumni and advancement]( has been approved by NAFSA. I [wrote]( about the effort to offer networking, professional advice, and training on international alumni relations and fund raising. The State Department has recognized 13 colleges as having the most recipients of the [Benjamin A. Gilman Scholarship]( which helps low-income and first-generation students study abroad. Eighteen others were recognized as having Gilman recipients for the first time. Global applications to graduate business schools are slowing, but the programs report class sizes and quality remain steady, according to a [survey]( by the Graduate Management Admission Council. ADVERTISEMENT And finally … As international-student admissions trends shift, colleges must consider new strategies and regions for recruitment. Where should admissions offices focus their international recruitment, and why? Join The Chronicle on Wednesday, November 15, at 2 p.m. ET for a [virtual forum]( on trends in international-student recruitment. I’ll be joined by a panel of experts to explore the latest “Open Doors” data from the Institute of International Education, and to discuss what we’re seeing on the recruitment front lines. The session is free, but registration is required. [Sign up here](. Thanks for reading. I always welcome your feedback and ideas for future reporting, so drop me a line at karin.fischer@chronicle.com. You can also connect with me on [X]( or [LinkedIn](. If you like this newsletter, please share it with colleagues and friends. They can [sign up here](. JOB OPPORTUNITIES [Search jobs on The Chronicle job board]( [Find Your Next Role Today]( Whether you are actively or passively searching for your next career opportunity, The Chronicle is here to support you throughout your job search. Get started now by [exploring 30,000+ openings]( or [signing up for job alerts](. NEWSLETTER FEEDBACK [Please let us know what you thought of today's newsletter in this three-question survey](. This newsletter was sent to {EMAIL}. [Read this newsletter on the web](. [Manage]( your newsletter preferences, [stop receiving]( this email, or [view]( our privacy policy. © 2023 [The Chronicle of Higher Education]( 1255 23rd Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20037