Community Colleges for International Development is committed to the vision that all community, technical and vocational institutions integrate international perspectives and experiences into their curricula and campus culture in order to develop globally competent students, faculty, and staff. CCID pursues and encourages advocacy at the campus, state, and national level to ensure all students have access to international experiences.
Advocacy Resources
Report: Global Learning in Community Colleges: A Strategic Necessity
Produced by the Working Group on the Future of Global Education at Community Colleges
In July 2025, a group of various stakeholders (representing international education, community colleges and organizations affiliated with institutions of higher education) formed a Working Group on the Future of Global Education at Community Colleges.
This Working Group was led by CCID and the Association of Community College Trustees (ACCT). A coalition of key stakeholders comprised this working group, lending their experience, expertise and other resources. They included:
This coalition of stakeholders identified optimal approaches about how community college personnel can be advocates in support of global education in both formal and informal ways with varied audiences. These audiences include community members, elected officials, government bodies, institutional leaders, businesses, students and families and the media.
The results of the Group’s work are available within the report, “Global Learning in Community Colleges”. Advocacy flyers were created for each audience as immediate resources available to community college personnel to aid their advocacy efforts.
This Working Group was led by CCID and the Association of Community College Trustees (ACCT). A coalition of key stakeholders comprised this working group, lending their experience, expertise and other resources. They included:
- American Association of Colleges and Universities (AACU)
- Association of International Education Administrators (AIEA)
- Council for Opportunity in Education
- Institute for International Education (IIE)
- NAFSA: Association of International Educators
- National Coalition of Advanced Technology Centers (NCATC)
- Rural Community College Alliance
- The Forum on Education Abroad
- The World Affairs Council of America
- The National Coalition of Advanced Technology Centers (NCATC)
- Institutional representatives from Linn Benton College, Shoreline Community College, Green River College, Kirkwood Community College, Northampton Community College and Harper College
This coalition of stakeholders identified optimal approaches about how community college personnel can be advocates in support of global education in both formal and informal ways with varied audiences. These audiences include community members, elected officials, government bodies, institutional leaders, businesses, students and families and the media.
The results of the Group’s work are available within the report, “Global Learning in Community Colleges”. Advocacy flyers were created for each audience as immediate resources available to community college personnel to aid their advocacy efforts.
Click on the titles below to access the audience-specific flyers.
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Global education is increasingly central to the talent, innovation, and competitiveness strategies of businesses across every sector. Global education is a strategic lever for trustees because it directly strengthens what matters most: student success, workforce alignment, community vitality, and institutional resilience. |
Global education is a strategic asset that strengthens America’s workforce, fuels local and national economies, supports rural and urban competitiveness, advances national security, and keeps U.S. higher education globally relevant. Global education at community colleges is not a niche offering or a luxury enrichment program, but an economic, workforce, and community development story hiding in plain sight. |
Global education is a powerful tool for advancing the missions of local organizations and foundations committed to community well-being, economic mobility, workforce development, and civic vitality. Global education is not just for students who can afford to travel—it’s for everyone. |
We strongly encourage representatives from community, technical and vocational colleges to submit feedback about this resource as it is being used.
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Feedback will be anonymous and will only include basic demographic information, how effective the resource has been for you and recommendations for future iterations. Your experiences matter! Please take a brief moment to assess this resource by clicking the button below.
Action Steps You Can Take
- Attend NAFSA’s Advocacy Day with CCID to advocate for the needs of community and technical colleges.
- Encourage college presidents and chancellors to join The Presidents' Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration.
- Join NAFSA’s Connecting Our World.
- Contact your congressional representatives in the U.S. House and Senate to advocate for policy and legislation. Click here to find your representatives.
- Urge the White House to implement a National Strategy for International Education by submitting a formal letter and completing a strategy survey here.
- Urge your elected officials to co-sponsor the Paul Simon Study Abroad Program Act of 2023, via a letter to your representative, that will help increase access to study abroad by U.S. students.
- Advocate for funding for the State Department and Department of Education to increase funding for mobility programs such as exchanges, 100K Strong, IDEAS funding, etc.
- Ask your lawmakers to help attract and retain international students by composing and submitting a letter here.
CCID Members on The Hill
Wendy Stewart (Vice President, International Programs & Extended Learning, Green River College) on an advocacy trip to DC, co-sponsored by NAFSA, in Fall 2025. Wendy met with her two state senators from Washington to advocate for international students and education.
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Share photos of you advocating for global education at government buildings, on campus with community stakeholders, and business meetings!
Please send photos with captions to [email protected]. |
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Get involved at our Annual Conference
CCID offers a standing session at its Annual Conference each year pertaining to important updates in advocacy. CCID believes in empowering community, technical and community college leaders to champion their work in global education in various ways. Other sessions pertaining to advocacy are also welcomed and frequent. CCID hosts its conference every other year in Washington, D.C. in order to not only afford conference attendees the opportunity to conduct professional business on Capitol Hill, but also so that CCID staff, select members and stakeholders may also utilize their time in the city to meet with representatives and key agencies that support international higher education. |
Fast Facts for Advocacy
- Community Colleges for International Development Community Colleges are Global
- Association of Community College Trustees (ACCT) Leading a Globally Connected College
- American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) The Importance of Global Education
- Erasmus Erasmus+ Impact Study factsheet
- Institute of International Education (IIE) Fast Facts for 2023
- NAFSA The Senator Paul Simon Study Abroad Program Act infographic
Data and Studies for Advocacy
- Consortium for Analysis of Student Success in International Education (CASSIE)
- Center for Global Education at Asia Society’s Preparing Tomorrow’s Workforce: The Global Learning Imperative for Career and Technical Education Programs at Community and Technical Colleges
- East-West Center in Washington D.C. America Matters for America
- Institute of International Education’s (IIE) Open Doors Report
- Michigan State University Broad College of Business 2019 Nationwide Benchmarking Report on International Business Education at Community Colleges
- NAFSA's Policy and Advocacy
- Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration Defending Optional Practical Training (OPT): Talking Points and Data
Impact Studies
- Study Abroad for Global Engagement (SAGE Project) by the University of Minnesota
- The Forum on Education Abroad - The Value of Education Abroad to Employees and Employers
- The Forum on Education Abroad - International Experience as a Career Asset: Exploring the Earnings Impact of Education Abroad Participation
- The Institute for International Education - Higher Education’s Economic Benefits to Communities
- NAFSA's Economic Value Statistics about International Students
- COVID-19 Impact Research Brief: Virtual Exchanges at Community Colleges
- California Community Colleges Student Outcomes Abroad Research Project (CCC SOAR) Study Abroad Impact Technical Report
- Erasmus Impact Study Effects of mobility on the skills and employability of students and the internationalisation of higher education institutions
- Erasmus+ Virtual Exchange Intercultural Learning Experience 2018 Impact Report
- The Forum on Education Abroad - advocacy resources and studies
- Institute of International Education (IIE) Gaining an Employment Edge: The Impact of Study Aboard on 21st Century Skills & Career Prospects in the United States
- The Interdisciplinary Journal of Study Abroad The High Impact of Education Abroad: College Students’ Engagement in International Experiences and the Development of Intercultural Competencies
- Stevens Initiative Virtual Exchange Impact and Learning Report 2019
