This dissertation is a study of the policy process behind the legislation and regulation governing international student access to U.S. higher education since the immediate aftermath of World War II. The particular research focus of this dissertation is on NAFSA: Association of International Educators (originally established as the National Association of Foreign Student Advisers in 1948). My primary analytical tool is the Advocacy Coalition Framework (ACF) of Paul Sabatier and Jenkins-Smith (see Sabatier & Weible, 2007). Taking into account the key concepts of the ACF, I attempt to answer the following four specific questions in order to explore the general question described above. First, "what relationships have NAFSA developed with other key actors in this policy process?" Second, "what has characterized NAFSA's beliefs in the promotion of international student mobility into the U.S.?" Third, "what resources has NAFSA, as a political actor, contributed to the coalition's advocacy for international student mobility?" Fourth, "what strategies have NAFSA used for its attempt to influence the federal policy?" This dissertation consists of eight parts, including an introduction and conclusion. After introducing the research question, defining major terms, and presenting the background and significance of this study, the conceptual framework for this dissertation is explained in Chapter Two. This chapter outlines the development of studies of policy process and the characteristics of the Advocacy Coalition Framework. Chapter Three is a literature review on the issues concerning; the relationship between the federal government and higher education; values in enrolling international students--upsides and downsides; and U.S. federal policies governing international students in terms of regulating and promoting their access. Chapter Four explains the methodology of this dissertation. This chapter explains how a case study approach as a qualitative research method fits the purpose of this study and what data sources were used. Chapter Five briefly addresses the stable parameters and external events as the contexts to the policy subsystem concerning international student access to U.S. higher education. Chapter Six, the longest in this study, presents the documentary data about NAFSA's and its allies' public policy activities and their beliefs in promoting international student mobility into the U.S. over the past 60 years. Apart from the document data, the interview results are summarized in Chapter Seven. Integrating the data presented in the previous two chapters, Chapter Eight attempts to answer the four specific research questions by analyzing the data presented in the previous chapters, and discusses the additional findings from the investigation. In summary, the policy subsystem concerning international student access to U.S. higher education and NAFSA, which has been involved in the subsystem, have had continuities and changes in their development as follows. The policy subsystem has had similar types of political actors with limited comings and goings since the late 1940s. With most of these actors, who have tended to advocate international student access to U.S. higher education, NAFSA has attempted to influence the federal policies governing those students. As for beliefs in bringing international students into the U.S., the foreign policy rationales have been dominant in the pro-international-student-access coalition, including NAFSA, and these rationale continuing to be influential. In recent years, economic rationales and the appreciation of intellectual contributions of international students are increasingly emphasized by many political actors, while these values were mentioned in the policy subsystem on a much smaller scale from the mid twentieth century. NAFSA has contributed to the pro-international-student-access coalition particularly by providing its steadily increased mobilizable troops as memberships, continually outstanding expertise knowledge on international student affairs, and recently enhanced efforts to take leadership both in regulatory and legislative policy advocacy. NAFSA has employed a number of strategies for its policy advocacy. Most of the strategies such as testimony in the congressional hearings, individual members' direct petitions to members of congress, and regular meetings with the governmental agencies are still in practical use. In addition to the regulatory areas, which have been NAFSA's traditional focus, NAFSA's advocacy activities have been expanded to the legislative areas since the late 1990s. The additional findings are three-fold as follows. First, international educators have had a dilemma between their phobia about government interference and their need for government support. Second, while most international educators are believers in various benefits which international students bring to the U.S., their belief may be too optimistic without serious empirical examinations. Third, the ACF is useful in understanding the policy changes in terms of the political actors' beliefs, and technological development, particularly in maintaining the information of individual international students. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. 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