NAFSA 2025, the leading global event for international education, takes place in San Diego from 27 to 30 May. This year’s conference is expected to draw approximately 8,000 participants from over 100 countries, reaffirming the sector’s commitment to international collaboration despite political tensions and financial pressures. 

Ongoing concerns around recent U.S. education and immigration policies (for more details, see ACA Newsletter – Education Europe; March 2025, April 2025, May 2025) have led some stakeholders to cancel their participation. Nonetheless, NAFSA CEO Fanta Aw has emphasised the conference’s role as a vital forum for dialogue, strategy-sharing, and resilience-building at a time of heightened global uncertainty. Over 40% of current registrants are based outside the United States, indicating strong continued interest from the international education community. 

Several ACA members will participate actively at this year’s event. Austria's Agency for Education and Internationalisation (OeAD) will join with 14 Austrian higher education institutions at booth #2438 under the “Study in Austria” brand to present academic programmes and scholarship opportunities. Croatia’s delegation includes ACA Member AMEUP and several HEIs, Hungary’s Tempus Public Foundation will exhibit alongside six national universities, sharing insights from key scholarship and mobility programmes. Representation of Swiss universities in San Diego will include 9 higher education institutions from the country and others will be represented by the ACA member swissuniversities. The Institute of International Education (IIE) will be present at booth #1726, alongside EducationUSA at #1709, and contribute to multiple sessions focused on advancing internationalisation strategies.  Study in Europe stands will be in the exhibition space and detailed list of countries attending can be found on NAFSA website. These members aim to strengthen partnerships and showcase their countries' commitment to global academic cooperation.