"What I think is interesting is how consistent those themes are with the Higher Education Act that just passed Congress," Longanecker said.

Longanecker said delegates discussed the importance of students studying in foreign institutions.

Conference participants were interested in "developing more programs where students can attend foreign universities without penalty...institutions abroad rather than a cloistered Harvard environment," he said.

He added that delegates discussed the development of an international rating system for colleges and universities. Foreign students feel comfortable attending Harvard because of its reputation but may be reluctant to attend lesser-known institutions.

"Foreign students go on reputation rather than accreditation because the [school accreditation] system is pass/fail and almost everybody passes," Longanecker said.

The establishment of the conference seemed to signal a movement toward greater world cooperation in higher education, Longanecker said.

"From my perspective two of the most significant benefits of being part of this conference is that I was accompanied by some of the most significant leaders in higher education in this country. We were building a stronger world network in higher education," he said.

"There will be cooperation that will evolve. This provided an avenue for enhancing those types of activities."

Conference attendees said globalization seemed like less of a challenge when the forum was higher education.

Cooperation with UNESCO is a breakthrough for the United States.

The U.S. faces two dilemmas in implementing the framework, Longanecker said. First of all, the United States is not currently a member of UNESCO.

Together with Singapore and the United Kingdom, the U.S. withdrew from UNESCO during the cold war because they disagreed with its goals. Both Singapore and the U.K. have rejoined.

"One of the big issues for us is to see how we can become members of that organization," Longanecker said.

"UNESCO considered it essential to have the United States' participation," Dias said. "It is important because the U.S. has the most important higher education system in the world."

While the conference showed countries' capacity for cooperation, it also revealed some of their differences. U.S. students for example have more standard preparation than in other countries. In New Guinea the government needs to educate students who speak 860 different languages in remote pockets of countryside.

"When one hears about the barriers that some nations have to face it makes you realize in a way how much we have," Scott said.

The U.S. delegation suggested establishment of a "higher education peace corps" to bring learning to other nations, with students' and educators who are there to learn, Scott said.