NAFSA: Association of International Educators is a non-profit professional organization for professionals in all areas of international education including education abroad advising and administration, international student advising, campus internationalization, admissions, outreach, overseas advising, and English as a Second Language (ESL) administration. As of 2010, it served approximately 10,000 educators worldwide, representing nearly 3,000 higher education institutions.

This article relies excessively on references to primary sources. (September 2018)

Elaine Meyer-Lee, Ed.D., associate vice president for global learning and leadership development at Agnes Scott College, became NAFSA President and chair of the board of directors on January 1, 2017.^[1]

NAFSA was founded in 1947 as the National Association of Foreign Student Advisers to help promote the professional development of American college and university officials responsible for assisting and advising the 25,000 foreign students who had come to study in the United States after World War II. Members included academic institutions, government agencies and private organizations. The association's scope soon expanded to include admissions personnel, English-language specialists, and the community volunteers who played an important role in helping foreign students become acclimated to American college communities. To reflect this growing and increasingly diverse membership, in 1964 the association changed its name to the National Association for Foreign Student Affairs.

By 1990, as the number of foreign students in the United States approached the 400,000 mark, there were 6,400 NAFSA members on 1,800 campuses, and increasing numbers of U.S. students were studying abroad. To reflect the now well-established role of NAFSA members in all aspects of international education and exchange, the name of the association was changed once more. In May 1990 the membership formally renamed the organization NAFSA: Association of International Educators, retaining the acronym to reflect NAFSA's proud past and broad name recognition.^[2]

NAFSA's mission, as stated in 2010, is to advance international education and exchange and global workforce development. NAFSA serves international educators and their institutions and organizations by establishing principles of good practice, providing training and professional development opportunities, providing networking opportunities, and advocating for international education.^[3]

NAFSA's five Knowledge Communities sponsor 15 professional networks, and one special focus group.

The NAFSA U.S. membership is divided into 11 geographic regions. Regional leadership teams organize conferences, state meetings and workshops for member states.^[9] The 11 NAFSA regions are as follows: