ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the part that higher education has played in supporting America's ascendant role in international education and in defining America's place in the hierarchy of nations. The American Academy of Diplomacy recommended a multibillion-dollar endowment for America to fulfill a long-term and sustainable commitment to both exchange programs and the improvement of international understanding in the American education system. While China's institutions may be making progress in the exercise of soft power, European institutions historically performed a significant role in Europe's influence on the United States, particularly in the development of US institutions. In recent years, America's community colleges have increased their efforts to attract foreign students, and they have discovered a very receptive market for the type and cost of the education that they offer. In the post-World War II period, American higher education, especially its research universities, achieved world-class preeminence.
