Dr. Walter was the only German insurer at the world’s largest university exchange event.

This year’s conference of NAFSA (Association of International Educators) took place in St. Louis, Missouri, from 26 to 31 May. The city on the Mississippi, home of the famous Washington University, was the perfect venue for the world’s largest university exchange event. This year, the conference was host to more than 8,000 representatives of universities and exchange organizations from more than 120 countries. They came to St. Louis to present their institutions, to build networks and to get information on the latest trends in international educational exchange.

The opening speech was given by Kofi Annan, former UN secretary general. As every year, the participants of the NAFSA conference were provided for five days with a packed agenda of presentations, meetings, workshops and special events on various topics from the area of international education.

At the "German Participants Morning", the director of the DAAD office in New York, Sebastian Fohrbeck, gave a motivating presentation on student exchange with North America. The good news for German universities: the German-American exchange is in full swing. However, the number of German students in the USA remains static, while the number of American students in Germany continues to increase. German continues to rank third among the most important foreign languages in the USA.
The most popular destinations among German students are by now the Netherlands, Austria, the UK and Switzerland, whereas the USA only ranks fifth on the list.

According to Fohrbeck, one of the reasons for the decreasing interest of German students to study in the USA is that study costs have risen by an average of 7% per year. If German universities expanded their short programs (summer classes, internships), a higher number of American students could be won for a stay in Germany.

At the conference in St. Louis, Claudia Reichstein, International Sales Director at Dr. Walter GmbH and responsible for international exchange programs, met with numerous representatives of European universities. She presented the company’s manifold insurance solutions such as the group insurance policy PROVISIT-GRUPPE as well as policies for individuals, e. g. PROTRIP and EDUCARE24.

About NAFSA
With nearly 10,000 members, NAFSA is the world's largest nonprofit professional association dedicated to international education. Once a year, the Annual Conference & Expo is hosted – a meeting that provides an opportunity for international educational and exchange organizations for learning and networking.
www.nafsa.org