USA Study Abroad Engagement Grant for Enhancing Global Academic Partnerships and U.S. Study Abroad Opportunities

The U.S. Study Abroad Engagement Grants (SAEGs) have been strategically developed to provide essential support for initiatives aimed at enhancing international academic partnerships. These grants aim to foster a significant increase in the number and diversity of U.S. undergraduate students who embark on life-changing study abroad experiences in a wider array of destinations across the globe. The goal of SAEGs is to build foreign higher education institutions’ capacity to develop partnerships with U.S counterparts and host more U.S study abroad students. SAEGs can support the development of wider higher education partnerships and exchanges, but all projects must have activities directly linked to increasing foreign higher education institutions’ capacity to host U.S. study abroad students.

SAEGs are the foreign-focused component of USA Study Abroad’s higher education capacity-building programming. It is complemented by the Increase and Diversify Education Abroad for U.S. Students (IDEAS) Program, which provides grants and trainings to build U.S. colleges and universities’ capacity to engage in international exchanges, including through the development of international partnerships. Through its work with SAEGs and the IDEAS Program, USA Study Abroad aims to build global higher education capacity to support U.S. study abroad programming, thereby increasing and diversifying the institutions, students, and destinations engaged in education abroad programming.

The program is designed to encourage creative thinking about strategic support of international academic partnerships and U.S. students studying abroad.

·        Capacity-building or academic partnerships trainings: Interested parties may propose webinars, workshops, expert seminars, or other in-person, hybrid, or virtual training activities for local and/or U.S. higher education administrators designed to improve their capacity to develop academic partnerships and exchange programming between local and U.S. higher education institutions.

·        Partnership and study abroad program development: If interested parties are working directly with U.S. and/or foreign higher education institution(s) interested in developing partnerships and programming, interested parties may propose site visits, collaborative program design, faculty training, and other group activities to support the development of international partnerships and programming.

·        Resource creation: Interested parties may propose the creation of partnership toolkits, training materials, and/or other resources designed to support foreign institutions’ capacity to develop partnerships and host more U.S. study abroad students.