IIE Blog: International Education and National Policymaking: How Does It Work?

Zehra Mirza, Evaluation Officer with the IIE Center for Academic Mobility Research and Impact, discusses how international fellowship and scholarships programs can indeed influence policymaking, and how alumni of these programs can foster change on local, national, and global levels. The ten-year impact study of the Ford Foundation International Fellowships Program (IFP) highlights this work. "The results of the 2015 Global Alumni Survey show that 185 IFP alumni are working in local or regional government agencies, 189 are working in national government agencies, and 127 alumni are working in national non-governmental agencies. These alumni have not only drafted policies at their organizations, but have also provided trainings, technical assistance, and have been involved in strategy development affecting approximately 4 million individuals."