House of Representatives Passes Bill to Create National Study Abroad Program

WASHINGTON - In a historic move to support the international education of America’s college students, the U.S. House of Representatives today passed H.R. 1469, the Senator Paul Simon Study Abroad Foundation Act.

The Paul Simon Study Abroad Act, introduced by Reps. Tom Lantos (D–Calif.) and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R–Fla.), calls for the creation of an innovative public-private partnership to administer a national study abroad program with an ambitious mandate: to ensure that at least 1 million American college students will study abroad annually in 10 years’ time. The legislation gives particular attention to making participation in study abroad available to the widest possible spectrum of students and to expanding study abroad opportunities in less-common destinations, especially in the developing world.

The idea for a national study abroad program had its start with the vision of the late Senator Paul Simon who, before his death in 2003, worked to raise awareness of the need to ensure that the next generation of Americans is prepared with global knowledge and skills. A bipartisan federal commission subsequently recommended a national effort to dramatically increase study abroad by Americans.

The Senate is expected to take up the legislation soon. The Senate version of the bill, S.991, was introduced by Sens. Dick Durbin (D–Ill.) and Norm Coleman (R–Minn.) and has garnered 37 cosponsors.