Washington, DC (May 31, 2023) – 32 Italian universities and institutes of higher education participate this year in the 75th National Association of Foreign Student Advisers (NAFSA) Annual Conference & Expo, a landmark event in the United States in the field of international higher education, which this year is held in Washington from May 30th to June 2nd and focuses on the theme “Inspiring an Inclusive Future.” The Ambassador of Italy to the United States, Mariangela Zappia, visited the “Study in Italy” booth, the result of the collaboration between NAFSA and Uni-Italia – an institution established in 2010 among the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, the Ministry of Universities and Research, and the Ministry of the Interior in order to help attract foreign students and researchers to Italian universities. NAFSA and Uni-Italia have been working together since 2018, also at the initiative of the Embassy of Italy in the United States.
“The partnership between universities and research institutions is a strategic pillar of the alliance between Italy and the U.S.,” stressed Ambassador Zappia at the opening of the event hosted at Villa Firenze for the Italian universities present and the U.S. institutions that are their partners, in the presence, among others, of the President of Uni-Italia, Prof. Francesco Profumo, and the President of EduItalia, Emmanuel Maio. The Ambassador expressed satisfaction with the fact, contained in the latest report of the International Educational Institute for the 2020-2021 academic year, that Italy is the first destination for study-abroad programs from the U.S., noting, on the other hand, the need to intensify the promotion of the Italian university system in the U.S. and promote more agreements aimed at promoting joint undergraduate and graduate courses.
