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Content Details

ED464523 - Current Challenges of International Education. ERIC Digest

Category
Executive Agency Publications
Collection
Education Reports from ERIC
SuDoc Class Number
ED 1.615:
Date Issued
December 1, 2001
Author
Cummings, William
Source Institution
ERIC Clearinghouse on Higher Education, Washington, DC
Sponsoring Agency
Office of Educational Research and Improvement (ED), Washington, DC
Publication Type
ERIC Publications - - ERIC Digests in Full Text
Subject
College Students, Foreign Students, Higher Education, International Education, International Educational Exchange, Study Abroad
Identifiers
Africa, Asia, ERIC Digests, Middle East
Abstract
The tragedies of September 11, 2001 have focused new attention on international education offered by U . S . postsecondary institutions. In the U.S., universities place their greatest emphasis on European studies followed by a focus on Latin American studies; this is reflected in the choices for study abroad of American undergraduates. Throughout the 1980s, students from Asia and the Middle East occupied first and second place among international students coming to the U.S.; since then, the Asian proportion has steadily increased so it exceeds 50 percent of all international students, while the flow from the Middle East has been superceded by that from Europe and Latin American. The virtual absence of a focus on the Middle East, as well as the considerable neglect of Asia and Africa, are cited as two especially troubling aspects of U.S. international education because of the considerable importance of these regions for the U.S. economy and international affairs. Because international education in the U.S. has' essentially languished over the last decade, Americ'an colleges and universities are not well-prepared to help their students understand the events associated with September 11. (Contains 35 references.).