Home >
Professional Networks >
Knowledge Community for Education Abroad >
Special Focus Network: Simon Act Initiatives >
Practice Resources >
Understanding the Simon Act >
Practice Resources
Senator Simon Study Abroad Act Basics
The Senator Paul Simon Study Abroad Foundation Act of 2007 (H.R. 1469 and S. 991) seeks to increase the number and diversity of U.S. students engaged in academic activities outside the United States in a larger variety of destination countries with broader goals of seeking to internationalize U.S. campuses and create a more globally informed U.S. citizenry. The legislation has gained strong bipartisan support in Congress and has been endorsed by more than 35 higher education and educational exchange organizations.
The legislation is currently making its way through Congress, and has already been passed by the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. It is awaiting full passage in the Senate before it can go to the President for his signature and be enacted into law.
After the bill is authorized, or signed into law, it will go through the appropriations process, where money is designated to the program by the Congress. Once the legislation is authorized and money appropriated, the Simon Foundation will appoint a Board of Directors, hire a CEO and staff, and a grant process will be designed.
A refresher about how a bill becomes a law is available here (61kb
).
For information about the legislation, please visit the Senator Paul Simon Study Abroad Foundation Act page where you can access the text of the House and Senate bills, learn more about the goals of the proposed program, see a list of organizations endorsing the bill, and find links to additional resources.
NAFSA also provides answers to frequently asked questions about the legislation and its importance to U.S. higher education.
The Simon Study Abroad Act grew out of a report by the Commission on the Abraham Lincoln Study Abroad Fellowship Program, which submitted a report in November of 2005.
The legislation is currently making its way through Congress, and has already been passed by the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. It is awaiting full passage in the Senate before it can go to the President for his signature and be enacted into law.
After the bill is authorized, or signed into law, it will go through the appropriations process, where money is designated to the program by the Congress. Once the legislation is authorized and money appropriated, the Simon Foundation will appoint a Board of Directors, hire a CEO and staff, and a grant process will be designed.
A refresher about how a bill becomes a law is available here (61kb
). For information about the legislation, please visit the Senator Paul Simon Study Abroad Foundation Act page where you can access the text of the House and Senate bills, learn more about the goals of the proposed program, see a list of organizations endorsing the bill, and find links to additional resources.
NAFSA also provides answers to frequently asked questions about the legislation and its importance to U.S. higher education.
The Simon Study Abroad Act grew out of a report by the Commission on the Abraham Lincoln Study Abroad Fellowship Program, which submitted a report in November of 2005.
Support Simon Study Abroad
