A look back at November’s International Education Month
International Education Week is an initiative by the U.S. Department of State and Department of Education to celebrate the benefits of international education and exchange around the world. At the University of Washington, FIUTS reached out to departments around campus to compile a whole month-long calendar of international-themed on-campus events. These range from the UW Study Abroad Fair to musical performances and public lectures, as well as a couple FIUTS events that we will highlight below. To learn more about the government initiative visit iew.state.gov, and to learn more about what we did for International Education Month at UW see our IEM webpage.
What does international education mean to you?
This year, FIUTS held a tabling event to reach out to students and hear “what international education means” to them! We had participants from the FIUTS staff, facilitators, and students around campus who had no affiliation with FIUTS at all. Everyone came together to define and discuss the impact of international education: on individuals, communities, and universities. The University of Washington boasts an impressive number of international students on its campus, with more than 2,500 new international students just being welcomed this past September and more than 8,000 international students total! The UW also holds diversity as an important pillar to the academic environment created here, and FIUTS is proud to be a part of that work.
On November 13th, the UW President Ana Mari Cauce released a blog post describing the diverse benefits of international education, titled “International Education Benefits Us All”. To read the full post, click the link or visit the President’s Blog on the Office of the President webpage.
Speed Language Exchange
On November 19th, FIUTS hosted a language exchange event in a speed-dating style, which allowed 26 students to meet and discuss a variety of languages! We had speakers of several languages, including English, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, French, Spanish, Vietnamese, Farsi, Hebrew, Indonesian, Tagalog, and German. During the event, students learned their names in other languages and shared favorite words and phrases. At the end there was free time for discussion to allow participants to further connect, as friends or new language exchange partners.
The state of international education in the usa:
The Institute of International Education (IIE) is the leading non-profit educational and cultural exchange organization in the US. They work toward a peaceful world through exchange and intercultural understanding by work that advances scholarship, builds economies, and promotes access to opportunities. Every year they release a report, The Open Doors Report, on data gathered from US institutions on study abroad and international students at universities and in English programs. Below are some statistics taken from the 2018 report, more of which you can find at www.iie.org. Did you know…?
“In 2017/18 there was an increase of 1.5% over the prior year in the number of an international students enrolled in academic programs in the US.”
51% of international students in the US come from China and India. The top 10 places of origin of international students are China (33%), India (18%), South Korea (5%), Saudi Arabia (4%), Canada (2%), Japan (2%), Taiwan (2%), Vietnam (2%), Mexico (1%), and Brazil (1%).
“1,094,792 international students were in the US in 2017/18, including those in academic programs and Optional Practical Training (OPT).”
“In 2016/17 there was an increase of 2% over the prior year in the number of US students studying abroad.”