Sending Office: Honorable Cheri Bustos
Sent By:
Yusuf.Nekzad@mail.house.gov
Dear Colleague,
In today’s global society, an undergraduate education that includes a meaningful study abroad experience is more important than ever. Study abroad provides students the opportunity to engage with other cultures, enhance foreign language skills, and expand
international knowledge. Unfortunately, less than two percent of all enrolled post-secondary students in the United States study abroad. In addition, minority students, first generation college students, and community college students are underrepresented
in study abroad participation.
In 2004, Congress authorized the Commission on the Abraham Lincoln Study Abroad Fellowship Program to provide recommendations to Congress and the President on expanding opportunities for United States undergraduate students to study abroad, with a special
emphasis on study abroad in developing countries. This bill seeks to implement those recommendations.
Senator Paul Simon Study Abroad Program Act
H.R. 4555 establishes a competitive grant program, run by the Department of Education, for institutions of higher education to encourage the sustainable expansion of study abroad opportunities for undergraduate students in the United States. It is named
after the late Illinois Senator, Paul Simon, who encouraged Congress to come together to prepare the next generation of Americans with the global knowledge and skills needed for success in an increasingly interconnected world.
The goals of the grant program are to do the following:
- Increase the overall number of undergraduate students studying abroad annually to one million within ten years;
- Increase the number of nontraditional and minority students studying abroad so that the demographics of study abroad participation reflect the demographics of the undergraduate population; and
- Increase the number of students who study abroad in nontraditional destinations, with an emphasis on study abroad in developing countries.
We hope that you’ll join us as a cosponsor of this important legislation. If you have any questions, or if you’d like to cosponsor, please contact Yusuf Nekzad in Rep. Bustos’ office (Yusuf.Nekzad@mail.house.gov
– 202-225-5905) or Tristan Southard in Rep. Katko’s office (Tristan.Southard@mail.house.gov – 202-225-3701).
Sincerely,
Rep. Cheri Bustos Rep. John Katko
Member of Congress Member of Congress
Endorsements:
- NAFSA: Association of International Educators
- Association of Public and Land-grant Universities
- Academic Programs International (API)
- American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese Metro New York Chapter
- American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admission Officers
- American Association of Community Colleges
- American Association of Teachers of French
- American Association of Teachers of German
- American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese
- American Council on Education
- American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages
- American Councils for International Education
- Arizona Language Association
- Association of American Universities
- CETRA Language Solutions
- Colorado Congress of Foreign Language Teachers (CCFLT)
- Computer-Assisted Language Instruction Consortium
- Connecticut Council of Language Teachers
- Diversity Abroad Network
- Dual Language Education of New Mexico
- Ferris State University
- Foreign Language Association of Georgia
- Foreign Language Educators of New Jersey
- Forum on Education Abroad
- Fund for Education Abroad
- Glastonbury Public Schools
- Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities
- IES Abroad
- Illinois Association for College Admission Counseling
- Institute of International Education
- International Association for Language Learning Technology
- Joint National Committee for Languages
- Kentucky Institute for International Studies(KIIS)
- Language Magazine
- Linguistic Society of America
- MaFLA
- Modern Language Association of Philadelphia and Vicinity
- National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities
- National Association for College Admission Counseling
- National Committee for Latin and Greek
- National Council for Languages and International Studies
- National Education Association
- National Network for Early Language Learning
- New York State Association of Foreign Language Teachers
- Northeast Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Languages
- Partners of the Americas
- Penn State University, New Kensington Campus
- Southwest Conference on Language Teaching
- West Virginia Foreign Language Teachers Association
- Wisconsin Association for Language Teachers
- World Learning / School for International Training
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