Higher Education: Approaches to Attract and Fund International Students in the United States and Abroad. Report to the Chairman, Subcommittee on International Organizations, Human Rights, and Oversight, Committee on Foreign Affairs, House of Representatives. GAO-09-379

Following September 11, 2001, the number of international students coming to the United States dropped for the first time in over 30 years. While enrollments have rebounded, the U.S. image has declined in the Muslim world and elsewhere. To improve global attitudes toward America, the U.S. government funds higher education for international students to facilitate exchanges, promote understanding among peoples in different countries, and build capacity in developing nations. To provide insight on how higher education is used to advance public diplomacy and development assistance goals, we examined (1) the objectives the United States and selected peer governments seek to advance through higher education for international students and the approaches they employ to attract international students, and (2) the characteristics of major U.S. and peer government programs that fund higher education for international students to support public diplomacy and development goals. GAO collected information from the United States, Australia, China, the European Commission, Germany, and the United Kingdom. This report does not contain recommendations. Technical comments from officials representing the programs discussed in this report were incorporated as appropriate. Appended are: (1) Objectives, Scope, and Methodology; (2) Percentage of Scholarship Recipients from Each Region by Scholarship Program; and (3) GAO Contact and Staff Acknowledgments. (Contains 24 footnotes, 3 tables and 6 figures.)