This week, education institutions of all types across the United States are celebrating International Education Week by highlighting the benefits of international education, including educational exchanges. Arkansans should be especially proud this week of the legacy of Sen. J. William Fulbright, whose legislation in 1946 created the Fulbright Program, the flagship international educational exchange program of the U.S. government.
Senator Fulbright described the Fulbright Program as a "modest program with an immodest aim--the achievement in international affairs of a regime more civilized, rational and humane than the empty system of power of the past."
As we observe International Education Week, we should remember Senator Fulbright's insight more than 70 years ago: The best way to survive the next violent conflict is to make sure that it never happens. A strong economy, a strong defense, a broad set of alliances, and a new set of international laws and standards were part of that strategy. But Fulbright's innovative solution for long-term peace and prosperity was the soft power of educational exchange. It was his vision of person-to-person diplomacy through international academic exchanges that gave rise to the Fulbright Program, which currently offers exchange opportunities to more than 8,000 students, scholars, teachers, artists, and professionals from the United States and more than 160 countries annually.
I was fortunate to have had strong family and personal ties with the late Senator Fulbright and I know that he firmly viewed the program as an experience that would lead to lifelong connections and collaborations after Fulbrighters return home. I was also privileged to be able to promote the Fulbright Program while representing the great state of Arkansas in the U.S. Senate and was deeply honored again when I was selected in 2017 to serve on the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board, a 12-member presidentially appointed body established by the U.S. Congress to supervise the global Fulbright Program, which is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.
Over the past 71 years, the Fulbright Program has become recognized and valued throughout the world for its advancement of shared ideas, its fostering of creativity, its development of future leaders, and its enormous capacity to build bridges of understanding. Fulbright alumni have gone on to achieve distinction in government, science, the arts, business, philanthropy, and education. Among the ranks of Fulbright alumni are 59 Nobel Prize recipients, 71 MacArthur Foundation fellows, 82 Pulitzer Prize winners, and 37 current or former heads of state or government.
With an annual congressional appropriation of over $200 million and more than $130 million in cost-share from partner governments, higher education institutions, and the private sector, the Fulbright Program stands as one of the most sought-after and highly leveraged foreign affairs instruments of the U.S. government.
The Fulbright Program offers awards to more than 4,000 international graduate students each year. In addition to sharing their ideas, wisdom and experiences at their U.S. institutions and in their host communities, these Fulbrighters--along with the more than one million other international students who travel to the United States to pursue their studies, bring a huge benefit to the U.S. economy.
During the 2016-2017 academic year, the 1.08 million international students who studied in the United States contributed more than $39 billion to the American economy and supported more than 400,000 U.S. jobs. In Arkansas alone, international students contributed an estimated $150 million to the state's economy and supported over 1,100 jobs.
Thousands of U.S. students from Arkansas also study overseas each year, developing their skills, learning languages, and preparing themselves to succeed in a global economy. These exchanges connect us to our global neighbors and promote a more harmonious, prosperous, and peaceful world.
I've been both honored and humbled to meet with countless Fulbright students, scholars, and teachers over the years, all of whom have inspired me with their stories and their motivation to be leaders and innovators. Please join me in celebrating International Education Week and the awesome power of the Fulbright Program.
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Former U.S. Senator Mark Pryor is a member of the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board. Information about International Education Week is available at iew.state.gov.
Editorial on 11/17/2017