We all absorbed a few sucker punches at NAFSA 2025. And we experienced all the feels.
While the White House released a new set of directives to further disrupt international student access to US institutions, NAFSANs gathered and found support amongst each other in San Diego. We ran as a pack (more on that below).
I spent my time at the conference largely with community and institutional leaders who have been down similar paths before. With sighs, eyerolls, and steadfast determination, we assessed what we knew, gave each other hugs, and took to planning for the future.
As NAFSA CEO Dr. Fanta Aw says, “We do not get to be tired.”
Meet Intead!
- Find us at APLU in NYC in June, NACUBO in DC in July, and NACAC in Columbus in September. Be in touch to share a cup of coffee in person.
Bookmark this: Intead’s Resource Center
Access 800+ articles, slides decks, reports with relevant content on any topic important to enrollment management and student recruiting. Check it out.
While many NAFSANs did express a weariness and some sessions had a very somber tone, that feeling was not pervasive. There will continue to be pain along the way, no doubt. Some of us will suffer losses due to the threats and disruptions. Student stress (and worse) is no joke. Fabulous and motivated international students will be denied access. Nevertheless, the dust will settle. Reason will prevail. And our community will fix what is being broken. NAFSA, among other leaders in our field, will be there throughout and after.
To be clear, no one is giving up the fight.
We were part of three presentations at NAFSA this year, mostly about career outcomes for international students and about how institutions can use this information to improve enrollment and advocate for our community. Find the link to our data (slides and a report) later in this blog post.
Read on…
It’s about hearts and heads. Marketing 101.
We will talk to our neighbors, friends, and those we run into at the grocery store. We will celebrate those who are culturally different and with that, we will convince others with our hearts. We will build affinity within and across groups.
And, we will use data about what international education does to improve lives and economies. We will advocate for what we know makes our communities so much more vibrant and strong. In that way, we will convince others with information – speaking directly to the head.
The Intead team (Ben, Britt, Iliana, and Maggie) had 3 presentations at NAFSA this year, presenting useful resources for all to use as you too look to the future. This stuff speaks to the head and gives you valuable talking points when you have heartfelt conversations with others.
- Ben and Jill Allen Murray (NAFSA) reviewed highlights from our recent research conducted with NAFSA and 12 US institutions that identifies the value of international student graduates living in and outside the US. The report provides a brief and highly useful compendium of other research (with links) on the topic of international student talent and the US need for these individuals including research from the US Department of Defense advocating for technologists from around the world to help meet the US defense industry’s need for skilled technicians. Following the conference on June 9th, Ben and Dr. Fanta Aw presented the information in a webinar (see slides below).
- David Di Maria (University of Maryland Baltimore County) released the latest NAFSA’s Guide to International Student Recruitment, Fourth Edition (look for it in the NAFSA bookstore). Ben and Justine from Intead contributed the chapter on marketing and earned the coveted “NAFSA Author” flag on the NAFSA conference badge!!! We feel honored. And the book is worth a read.
- Ben and Iliana joined Karin Fischer (The Chronicle of Higher Education) and Andrew Chen (FrogHire.ai) to discuss international student career outcomes and how US Department of Labor data can be used to demonstrate an institution’s success with their graduates securing US jobs in their field of study. See link below for access to the slides and the report.
NAFSA 2025 produced what it always does:
- An opportunity for those new to the field to learn from those who have been at it for a while.
- An opportunity to identify and develop new ideas generated by the young and young at heart.
- An opportunity to forge new bonds, strengthen existing friendships, and identify the path forward despite the threats to our field's progress.
This is no time to sit on the sidelines. This is no time to remain hidden so that perhaps you won’t be singled out and punished. We are all being attacked and the way to respond to the fear of being singled out is to run as a pack.
Intead is here and raising our hands. We will be part of the fix in the near- and long-term.
With that in mind, please take advantage of our reports and slides. They received a hearty, positive response by your colleagues at NAFSA this year. Be in touch if you have questions.
This is about far more than students and access to education. This is about cross-cultural understanding and connection. It is about human, societal, and economic progress that emerges from research and discovery (AKA education).
Join us in envisioning the future. Join us in the fight.
