The U.S. Department of State has awarded 37 grants to higher education institutions across the country to expand study abroad opportunities for American students.
The grants, totaling nearly $1.3 million, were distributed through the 2024 Increase and Diversify Education Abroad for U.S. Students (IDEAS) Program. This initiative aims to align study abroad programs with U.S. foreign policy goals and equip American students with international experience and skills beneficial for their future careers and leadership capacities.
“U.S. students who study abroad play a crucial role as global citizen ambassadors,” the State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs posted on X (formerly Twitter).
The 2024 IDEAS grants include awards to 10 community colleges and 14 minority-serving institutions across 24 states and Washington, D.C. These grants will facilitate the creation and expansion of study abroad programs, development of new international partnerships, faculty and staff training, student engagement in study abroad, and the development of virtual and hybrid exchanges.
Rosemary Pennington, an associate professor at Miami University’s media, journalism, and film school, expressed her excitement on social media, sharing that the grant will enable her to take students to Lithuania and Latvia in the summer of 2025 to study journalism, democracy, and social change.
The IDEAS grants will support programs in 36 destinations worldwide, including Tunisia, Botswana, Croatia, Uruguay, Nepal, and Indonesia. These efforts are part of a broader initiative to ensure that U.S. students gain international experiences that are crucial for global understanding and cooperation.
Approximately 20% of U.S. undergraduate students report having a disability. Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), awarded up to $34,970, will use the grant to increase participation of students with disabilities in its study abroad programs. Kathleen Head, director of The Global School’s Global Experience Office at WPI, emphasized the importance of ensuring accessibility for all students in their Global Projects Program.
Two “consortium grants” were awarded to the State University of New York at Oswego, partnering with Monroe Community College, and West Virginia’s Marshall University, in partnership with BridgeValley Community and Technical College. These grants aim to build capacity and resources at American community colleges to prepare students for careers in STEM, technical, or vocational fields, in line with the bipartisan 2022 CHIPS and Science Act. This Act focuses on boosting domestic manufacturing of semiconductor chips and other critical technologies.
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