Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs

EDUCATIONAL INFORMATION AND RESOURCES
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Office of Global Educational Programs

The Office of Global Educational Programs (ECA/A/S) is divided into three branches: the Humphrey Fellowship and Institutional Linkages Branch (ECA/A/S/U); the Teacher Exchange Branch (ECA/A/S/X), and the Educational Information and Resources Branch (ECA/A/S/A). The office plans, develops, administers and monitors several major exchange activities; the Teacher Exchange Program, the Humphrey Fellowship Program, the Community College Initiatives, and the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship Program with the assistance of private, non-profit organizations. Through its Educational Information and Resources Branch, the office also oversees EducationUSA advising around the world.

As the only U.S. Government unit concerned with the welfare of foreign students in the United States, the Office of Global Educational Programs is also responsible for a variety of programs, products and services designed to strengthen overseas educational information centers and campus and community programs serving international students and scholars.

Humphrey Fellowships, Community College Initiatives, and Educational Partnerships

The Humphrey Fellowships and Institutional Linkages Branch (ECA/A/S/U) focuses on programs where academic experiences intersect with professional life to encourage international cooperation that transcends traditional barriers between education and the work of practitioners in a wide range of professions.

The Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship Program brings mid-career professionals to the U.S. for programs that combine graduate-level academic training with related practical professional experiences. Public affairs sections of U.S. embassies or binational Fulbright commissions nominate Fellows based on their potential for national leadership.

By providing these future leaders with a shared experience of U.S. society and culture and exposing them to current U.S. approaches to the fields in which they work, the program provides a basis for establishing lasting ties between Fellows and their professional American counterparts. Fellowships are granted competitively to candidates with a commitment to public service in both the public and private sectors. Fellows are placed in groups by specialty on campuses around the United States.

The Community College Initiatives brings participants from selected countries to study at U.S. community colleges where they acquire new job skills, participate in service learning activities, and experience U.S. culture. After completing a one-year certificate or two-year AA degree program, participants return to their home countries to apply their newly learned skills. Public affairs sections of U.S. embassies or binational Fulbright commissions nominate students for participation.

The Educational Partnerships Program has enabled U.S. colleges and universities to pursue specific institutional goals in cooperation with partner institutions overseas through the exchange of teachers, administrators, and graduate students for an appropriate combination of teaching, consultation, research and outreach. A database of all Partnership projects is available on the Partnerships webpage.

Educational Information and Resources Branch

The Educational Information and Resources Branch (ECA/A/S/A) promotes the international exchange of students and scholars through a network of EducationUSA advising centers located in nearly every country of the world. More than 25 million prospective students contact these centers each year.

The Branch estimates that a majority of the more than 580,000 international students now studying in the U.S. contacted an EducationUSA advising center for information on U.S. study. These students contribute an estimated $14.5 billion annually to the U.S. economy.

The Branch also works with partner organizations to support international students and scholars on U.S. campuses and fund professional development and training for foreign student advisers, admissions personnel, and others at U.S. institutions. Programs strengthen international activities within the U.S. academic community, including student and faculty exchanges, study abroad, coordination with foreign governments, evaluation of foreign institution's credentials, and recruitment of foreign students.

The Branch funds research on international education, including Open Doors, the annual census of international educational exchange in the United States, which provides data about international students and scholars in the U.S. and U.S. students who study abroad.

Teacher Exchange Branch

The Teacher Exchange Branch (ECA/A/S/X), in cooperation with the public affairs section of U.S. embassies, binational Fulbright commissions, and counterpart agencies in 23 participating countries, arranges direct two-way academic year and short-term exchanges of U.S. and foreign teachers and education administrators. There are also a limited number of semester and shorter-term assignments, initiatives, and opportunities for U.S. teachers to attend seminars abroad.

Each year approximately 700 U.S. and foreign educators — 450 in the Fulbright, 250 in other programs — are exchanged. Exchanges are open to college faculty members, teacher trainers, secondary level teachers, and school administrators. For Canada, the United Kingdom, Finland, and Colombia, elementary teachers are also eligible.

Educators are selected for the programs from among a wide range of subject fields, including history, foreign languages, special education, business, the sciences, and literature. Many teachers from non-English speaking countries teach their native languages in U.S. classrooms while their U.S. counterparts abroad teach English as a foreign language.

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