Pristina (May 19, 2004) The Kosovo American Education Fund, a new endowment for graduate education fellowships for Kosovars, will be introduced on Thursday evening, 20 May, 19.00 at a reception hosted by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) at the Kosovo Art Gallery, Pristina. The fund is designed to support the long-term development of Kosovo by developing a cadre of well-educated and trained individuals by providing fellowships for graduate education in the United States . The fund, which will exist in perpetuity, uses the income generated from initial US Government funding and future contributors. Speakers will be Robert Sorenson, charge d'affaires, US Office Pristina, and Dale Pfeiffer, USAID mission director.

The fund is established with US $7.8 million of program income of USAID generated by the sale of the American Bank of Kosovo in 2003 to Raiffheisen Bank Kosovo. Graduate fellowships will be provided to Kosovars in subjects that would support economic growth in Kosovo, such economics, finance, accounting, management, business, law, public administration and other fields. In addition, an annual economic conference in Kosovo will be held on specific economic issues.

The fund will be managed by American Councils for International Education, Washington , DC , which will be responsible for raising additional funds to augment those contributed by the US Government through USAID. American Councils will open an office in Pristina, Kosovo, for the application and selection process. Today, the application criteria and fellowship selection process have not been established, and a future announcement will be made when the first fellowships will be offered. Neither the US Office Pristina nor USAID will participate in the selection of fellowships and therefore should not be contacted for further information. The American Councils will make future announcements on the Kosovo American Education Fund.