International Education Week 2019

From November 18-22, the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Department of Education are celebrating International Education Week (IEW) by encouraging Americans to seek opportunities to study abroad and welcoming international students to study in the United States.  International education makes the United States stronger, forging lasting connections between Americans and peers in other countries, bringing benefits to local communities, and generating knowledge to solve shared challenges.

During IEW, events at schools, universities and communities across the United States and around the world will focus on the importance of international education in fostering security and economic growth and highlight why more students should experience international education.

To open IEW, the State Department, in collaboration with the Institute of International Education, released the annual Open Doors report of data and trends in international academic mobility.  In academic year 2018/19, for the fourth year in a row, more than one million international students studied at U.S. institutions of higher education, with an increase of .05 percent over last year.  The number of American students studying abroad also increased by 2.7 percent from the prior year, to 341,751 Americans.

Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship Program

At-a-Glance

The Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship Program provides scholarships to U.S. undergraduates with financial need for study abroad, including students from diverse backgrounds and students going to non-traditional study abroad destinations. Established under the International Academic Opportunity Act of 2000, Gilman Scholarships provide up to $5,000 for American students to pursue overseas study for college credit.

Critical Need Languages

Students studying critical need languages are eligible for up to $3,000 in additional funding as part of the Gilman Critical Need Language Supplement program. Those critical need languages include:

Critical Language Scholarship Program

At-a-Glance

Application for Summer 2020 Now Open – Apply by November 19

The Critical Language Scholarship (CLS) program provides overseas foreign language instruction and cultural immersion experiences for American undergraduate and graduate students in fifteen critical need languages.

CLS is part of a U.S. government initiative to expand the number of Americans studying and mastering foreign languages that are critical to our national security and prosperity. These critical languages are less commonly taught in U.S. schools, but are essential to America’s positive engagement with the world.  

Number of International Students in the United States Hits All-Time High

WASHINGTON, D.C., November 18, 2019—The number of international students in the United States set an all-time high in the 2018/19 academic year, the fourth consecutive year with more than one million international students. The total number of international students, 1,095,299, is a 0.05 percent increase over last year, according to the 2019 Open Doors Report on International Educational Exchange. International students make up 5.5 percent of the total U.S. higher education population. According to data from the U.S. Department of Commerce, international students contributed $44.7 billion to the U.S. economy in 2018, an increase of 5.5 percent from the previous year.

Open Doors 2019, released today by the Institute of International Education (IIE) and the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, highlights the continued competitiveness of the U.S. higher education sector as a destination of choice for international students and the growing interest in international educational exchange among U.S. students.

“We are happy to see the continued growth in the number of international students in the United States and U.S. students studying abroad,” said Marie Royce, Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs. “Promoting international student mobility remains a top priority for the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and we want even more students in the future to see the United States as the best destination to earn their degrees. International exchange makes our colleges and universities more dynamic for all students and an education at a U.S. institution can have a transformative effect for international students, just like study abroad experiences can for U.S. students.”

For the tenth consecutive year, China remained the largest source of international students in the United States in 2018/19 with 369,548 students in undergraduate, graduate, non-degree, and optional practical training (OPT) programs, a 1.7 percent increase from 2017/18. India (202,014, +2.9 percent), South Korea (52,250, -4.2 percent), Saudi Arabia (37,080, -16.5 percent), and Canada (26,122, +0.8 percent) round out the top five. Emerging market countries showed some of the strongest growth year over year, especially Bangladesh (+10.0 percent), Brazil (+9.8 percent), Nigeria (+5.8 percent), and Pakistan (+5.6 percent).

Journée de l’Éthiopie à Washington DC

(WASHINGTON, DC) – Pour célébrer la visite du Premier ministre éthiopien Abiy Ahmed à Washington DC, le maire Bowser a proclamé le 28 juillet 2018 «Journée de l’Éthiopie à Washington DC». Le maire rejoindra samedi le Premier ministre Abiy au Walter E. Washington. Centre des congrès, où le Premier ministre s’adressera à des milliers de membres de la communauté de la diaspora éthiopienne de toute la région. Abritant plus de 30 000 immigrants éthiopiens, la région métropolitaine de Washington possède la plus grande population de personnes nées en Éthiopie aux États-Unis. Trouvez la proclamation du maire ICI.

 

USA – 4th Annual Young African ConneXions Summit Nelson Mandela

unnamedM2018 Marks the 100th birthday of Nelson Mandela. As part of our Youth Engagement and Multicultural Awareness Program, the Mayor’s Office on African Affairs invites you to Fourth Annual Young African ConneXions Summit, themed “Living the Legacy” commemorating the life and legacy of Nelson Mandela. The summit will feature the 2018 Mandela Washington Fellows for Young African Leaders Initiative(MWF-YALI), based at Howard University, community members in the District of Columbia, the African Diaspora Community, policy makers and civic leaders, engaged in a platform for a discussion around advocacy, volunteerism, leadership and community engagement, all inspired by the Madiba. Continue reading