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  What does it matter? It might help to translate the statistics into business terms: If we were trying to attract a new company with more than 7,000 employees who would directly contribute more than $144 million to Iowa’s economy, the state government and media would be shouting about the opportunity. We already have this ‘‘company’’ in our state, but if we fail to nurture and expand our efforts to attract international students, Iowa risks losing market share.

  And we risk other things as well. International students help our Iowa students learn more about the world. Many international students and scholars return home to become leaders in government, business and education, with the power to decide where in the world to invest financial and human resources. A significant number of international students remain in Iowa to fill badly needed employment niches in higher education and in Iowa companies. The long-term potential goes far beyond the $144 million per year. Iowa needs more young people with great minds, and international students and scholars are among the best in the world.

  State government, higher education and the business community should be working to significantly increase the number of international students and scholars. Here are some places to begin:

  1. A group of Iowa college and university admissions representatives have created Promoting Iowa Education Internationally. For the first time, Iowa schools have collaborated to have educational ‘‘trade’’ missions to other countries, to visit foreign embassies in Washington, D.C., and to invite counselors from international high schools to Iowa. PIE has made a tremendous first step, but it needs the financial support of college and university presidents and state government.

  2. Iowa Sister State and Sister City organizations should be urged to tell the story of Iowa higher education when they travel and when they have international guests. Iowa businesses should be motivated to do the same. We should provide a limited number of scholarships to students in states where we have those international relationships.

  3. We should push our leaders in Washington to streamline our visa processes for business and education. It is ironic that we spend so much money on bureaucratic means to keep business leaders and scholars out of our country, while thousands cross our border illegally every day. Where is the long-term security in that?

  4. Many families around the world are willing to make a huge investment in their children’s education, but few can come up with the tens of thousands of dollars of cash guarantee required to enter the United States for higher education. Iowa should be the first state to explore some form of loan guarantee that can ease the immediate burden. That would become a great recruiting tool.

  5. Current international students can become Iowa’s best advocates, but only if we do more to help them meet Iowans and learn about the state while they are here. We need to do more to help keep the connections with our top international alumni. An example would be to provide micro-grants to international students from developing countries to manage small development projects when they return home. Resources such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation may be intrigued by a statewide program along those lines and agree to assist.

  6. Finally, and most importantly, we should invest more in higher education to keep tuitions reasonable. When some of the world’s poorest countries can provide free or low-cost education for their brightest and best, we ought to be able to provide more scholarships for Iowans whose needs are greatest.

  We believe these ideas present a beginning.

  Iowans benefit greatly from the diversity, the intellectual capital and the dollars that international students and scholars bring to our state. Education can be one of our most valuable exports. Iowa has a rich resource of quality higher education in every part of the state. We should be challenged to increase the number of international students and scholars studying in Iowa by at least 50 percent over the next five years.
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Robert Anderson of Ames is president of Iowa Resource for International Service and former lieutenant governor of Iowa. Sen. Daryl Beall, D-Fort Dodge, is co-chairman of the Iowa Senate International Affairs Committee. Rep. Willard Jenkins, R-Waterloo, chairman of the Iowa House International Affairs Committee.