For Immediate Release April 19, 2000

MEMORANDUM FOR THE HEADS OF EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES

SUBJECT: International Education Policy

To continue to compete successfully in the global economy and to maintain our role as a world leader, the United States needs to ensure that its citizens develop a broad understanding of the world, proficiency in other languages, and knowledge of other cultures. America's leadership depends on a coherent and coordinated international education strategy to meet the challenges of preparing our citizens for a global environment.

Since World War II, the Federal Government, in partnership with institutions of higher education and other educational organizations, has sponsored programs to help Americans gain the international experience and skills they need in an increasingly interdependent world. Also, our colleges and universities have developed an educational system whose reputation attracts students from all over the world. Today, the defense of U.S. interests, the effective management of global issues, and even an understanding of our nation’s diversity require ever-greater contact with, and understanding of, people and cultures beyond our borders.

Nearly 500,000 international students now study in the United States at the postsecondary level. They contribute some $9 billion annually to our economy and enrich our communities with their cultures. The goodwill these students bear for our country constitutes one of our greatest future foreign policy assets.

It is the policy of the Federal Government to support international education. We are committed to:  

• encouraging students from other countries to study in the United States;   
• promoting study abroad by U.S. students;   
• supporting the exchange of teachers, scholars, and citizens at all levels of society;   
• enhancing programs at U.S. institutions that build international partnerships and expertise;   
• expanding foreign language learning and knowledge of other cultures;   
• preparing and supporting teachers in their efforts to interpret other countries and cultures for their students; and   
• advancing technology to aid the spread of knowledge throughout the world.

The Federal Government cannot accomplish these goals alone. Educational institutions, state and local governments, non-governmental organizations, and the business community all must contribute to this effort. Therefore, I direct the heads of executive departments and agencies, working in partnership with the private sector, to take the following actions:  

1. The Secretaries of State and Education shall support the efforts of schools and colleges to improve access to high-quality international educational experiences by increasing the number and diversity of students who study and intern abroad. They shall encourage students and institutions to choose nontraditional study-abroad locations, and helping under-represented U.S. institutions offer and promote study-abroad opportunities for their students.   
2. The Secretaries of State and Education shall identify steps to attract qualified post-secondary students from overseas to the United States, including improving the availability of accurate information overseas about U.S. educational opportunities.   
3. The heads of agencies, including the Secretaries of State and Education, shall review the effect of U.S. Government actions on the international flow of students, scholars, citizens, and professional exchanges, and take steps to address unnecessary obstacles, including those involving visa and tax regulations, procedures, and policies.   
4. The Secretaries of State and Education shall support the efforts of state and local governments and educational institutions to promote international awareness and skills in the classroom and on campuses. Such efforts include strengthening foreign language learning at all levels, helping students achieve bi-literacy, helping teachers to understand and interpret other countries and cultures for their students, increasing opportunities for scholarly exchange, and assisting educational institutions in other countries to strengthen their teaching of English.   
5. The Secretaries of State, Education, and other agencies shall take steps to ensure that international educational exchange programs, such as the Fulbright program, are coordinated through the Interagency Working Group on United States Government-Sponsored International Exchange and Training. This will maximize existing resources and ensure that the exchange programs receive the support they need.   
6. The Secretary of Education, in cooperation with other agencies, shall continue to support efforts to improve U.S. education by developing comparative information, including benchmarks, on educational performance and practices. The Secretary of Education shall also share U.S. educational expertise with other countries.   
7. The Secretaries of State and Education shall strengthen and expand models of international exchange among educational institutions with common interests.   
8. The Secretary of Education and the heads of other agencies, in partnership with State governments, academic institutions, and the business community, shall strengthen programs that build international expertise in U.S. institutions. The goal is to enhance the nation’s capacity to produce the international and foreign-language expertise and make international education an integral component of U.S. higher education.   
9. The Secretaries of State and Education, in cooperation with other agencies, the academic community, and the private sector, shall promote global technology, examining the implications of borderless education without widening of the digital divide.   
10. The Secretaries of State and Education, in conjunction with other agencies, shall ensure that actions taken in response to this memorandum are fully integrated into the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) framework by means of specific goals, milestones, and measurable results, which shall be included in all GPRA reporting activities, including strategic plans, performance plans, and program performance reports.

Items 1-10 of this memorandum shall be conducted subject to the availability of appropriations, consistent with the agencies' priorities and my budget, and to the extent permitted by law. 

The Vice President shall coordinate the U.S. Government's international education strategy. Further, I direct that the heads of agencies report to the Vice President and to me on their progress in carrying out the terms of this memorandum.

This memorandum is a statement of general policy and does not confer a private right of action on any individual or group.

WILLIAM J. CLINTON