From November 14-18, the U.S. Department of State, in partnership with the U.S. Department of Education, will celebrate International Education Week (IEW), an annual joint effort to elevate the importance of and the opportunities that international educational exchange brings to campuses and communities, both in the United States and around the world. This year's theme, 'Open for Opportunity,' is confirmed through the annual Open Doors Report, which measures and outlines trends in international student mobility, and reports that the United States maintains its ranking as the top destination globally for international students. International educational exchange, which welcomes students from overseas to the United States as well as Americans studying abroad, is a foundational pillar of the U.S. people-to-people diplomacy efforts, a key component of U.S. foreign policy.
Today, to kick off IEW, the Department of State, in collaboration with the Institute of International Education (IIE), released the annual Open Doors Report, which is available by request from the IIE. According to the Open Doors data, the United States was once again the top destination for international study in academic year 2021/2022, welcoming 948,519 international students to U.S. colleges and universities, a 4% increase from last year. The Open Doors data also provides insights into the pandemic's effect on American students' participation in study abroad programs in academic year 2020/21. With U.S. institutions of higher education pausing study abroad to protect the health and welfare of their students, fewer U.S. students studied abroad during this time frame, and relied on virtual experiences and customized in-person offerings. To learn more about the Open Doors data, visit the Institute for IIE website.
In addition to the Open Doors Report, the Department will highlight key aspects of international education throughout the week, including: #StudyWithUS engagement efforts to recruit international students to study in the U.S.; diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) efforts, spotlighting the Department's work with Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs), and key scholarship programs, such as the Critical Language Scholars and Benjamin Gilman and Fulbright Scholarship Programs; alumni of international educational exchange who have gone on to be impactful both in their communities and countries; and a special program with Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Foreign Service Officers, whose careers were jumpstarted thanks to their Gilman Scholarship experience.
