The Clarity of Retrospect: 2000–2020

Between 2000 and 2020, before the upcoming pandemic but after the 9/11 attacks and their aftermath, the eminent status of higher education exchange in the United States remained indisputable. Organizations such as the Institute of International Education and NAFSA were leaders in the administration and distribution of student exchange, producing a plethora of well-run programs and services. A degree from an American college or university was still, by a large margin, the preferred choice for most of the world’s political leaders and their families, business and industry magnates, and scholars. But even before pandemic-driven shifts began to transpire at the end of this era, other influences taking place were similarly destined to alter the course and the character of higher education in the United States. The advance of online education around the world, demographic shifts, economic dependencies, aggressive rivalries for foreign students from competing countries, and the forcing of social agendas, were already shaking the field of American higher learning, and by extension, international education exchange.