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Higher Education

The goal of USAID’s work in higher education is to improve the human and institutional capacity of host country higher education institutions (HEIs) to effectively contribute to economic, political and social development. USAID achieves this goal via a strategy of country-driven investments in programs, policies and institutional relationships that strengthen and engage host country higher education institutions as core development assets.

Bachelor of Environmental Health students at Makerere University in Uganda participate hydrology field session under a partnership program with the State University of New York, Albany. Credit: David O. Carpenter, M.D.

Special attention is given to strengthening the capacity of HEIs to provide:

• short and long term training programs in technical sectors of critical importance to host country development
• degree programs in fields of critical importance
• technical assistance and extension programs in a range of technical sectors (health, agriculture, infrastructure information communication technology, natural resource management, business development, science and engineering)
• applied research
• policy analysis

USAID’s Higher Education for Development (HED) Program is an initiative that supports capacity-building by fostering partnerships between U.S. universities, colleges and community colleges and their counterpart institutions in host countries. Since 1987, the HED program and its predecessors have launched more than 300 university partnerships that have strengthened the institutional capacity of more than 200 developing country higher education, research, and training institutions in about 60 countries. Specific examples of HED partnership programs and country initiatives include:

• U.S.- Mexico Training, Internships, Exchanges and Scholarship (TIES) Program designed to facilitate training, internship, exchange, and scholarship relationships between U.S. and Mexican universities
• Leadership Initiative for Public Health in East Africa Program which supports long term partnerships between schools of public health in East Africa and higher education institutions in the United States
• Country-specific partnerships to build HEI capacity to address specific development problems such as upgrading university faculties, strengthening management education and improving natural resources management. Successful higher education partnerships include: Stitching together a Livelihood in South Africa; Engaging Communities to Improve Watet Water Management; and Diversifying Crops in Punjub

Other USAID efforts that strengthen HEI capacity-building include the Collaborative Research Support Program (CRSP) and the Agricultural Biotechnology Support Program II which support collaborative research undertaken by U.S. and host country HEIs in the critical sectors of agriculture and natural resources management. USAID also assists university alliances with private sector partners such as initiatives to improve ICT and vocational education programs in Indonesia, South Africa and Zambia.

To facilitate the participation of U.S. higher education institutions in a broad range of developmental activities, USAID has developed a guide: Working with USAID: Guidance for Institutions of Higher Education.

In addition to these capacity building activities, USAID supports a number of higher education scholarship programs. More information on these programs can be found here.

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