NAFSA CALLS ON CONGRESS TO SUPPORT VISIONARY STUDY ABROAD BILL
Legislation Proposes Innovative Public-Private Partnership
On March 27, Senators Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) and Norm Coleman (R-Minn.), introduced the Senator Paul Simon Study Abroad Foundation Act of 2007 (S.991).
The legislation’s bold vision is that at least one million American undergraduate students will study abroad annually in ten years’ time.
The legislation specifically cites the foreign policy challenges facing the United States as a central reason for the need to expand Americans’ knowledge of other cultures and foreign languages, and focuses particular attention on increasing participation by under-represented students and on encouraging students to study in nontraditional locations, especially in the developing world.
The Simon Study Abroad Act, and the foundation it creates, will greatly increase the number of American students graduating with the international skills necessary to help fight the global war on terror and keep America competitive in the global economy.
NAFSA strongly supports this significant bipartisan effort to bring government, higher education, and the private sector together to ensure that the next generation of Americans is ready for life and leadership in the global age. We urge Congress to pass and fully fund the Senator Paul Simon Study Abroad Foundation Act.
List of co-sponsors prior to April recess:
Sen Akaka, Daniel K. [HI] – 3/27/2007
Sen Baucus, Max [MT] – 3/27/2007
Sen. Boxer, Barbara [CA] – 3/28/2007
Sen Cantwell, Maria [WA] – 3/27/2007
Sen Chambliss, Saxby [GA] – 3/27/2007
Sen Cochran, Thad [MS] – 3/27/2007
Sen Coleman, Norm [MN] – 3/27/2007
Sen. Durbin, Richard [IL] – 3/27/2007
Sen Dodd, Christopher J. [CT] – 3/27/2007
Sen Hagel, Chuck [NE] – 3/27/2007
Sen Kennedy, Edward [MA] – 3/27/2007
Sen Kerry, John F. [MA] – 3/27/2007
Sen. Lautenberg, Frank [NJ] - 3/28/2007
Sen Levin, Carl [MI] – 3/27/2007
Sen Lieberman, Joseph I. [CT] – 3/27/2007
Sen Menendez, Robert [NJ] – 3/27/2007
Sen Obama, Barack [IL] – 3/27/2007
Sen Pryor, Mark L. [AR] – 3/27/2007
Sen Roberts, Pat [KS] – 3/27/2007
Sen. Sanders, Bernie [VT] - 3/28/2007
Sen Smith, Gordon H. [OR] – 3/27/2007
Sen Snowe, Olympia J. [ME] – 3/27/2007
Sen Stabenow, Debbie [MI] – 3/27/2007
Sen Stevens, Ted [AK] – 3/27/2007
Sen Warner, John [VA] – 3/27/2007
Program Objectives
The program proposed by the Simon Study Abroad Act will serve three main objectives:
- to enhance the global competitiveness and knowledge base of Americans by significantly increasing the number of college students who study abroad;
- to improve America’s image abroad and to equalize opportunities for American students to succeed by giving special attention to expanding study abroad opportunities for students who are currently underrepresented in study abroad participation; and
- to increase the ability of the United States to engage with all parts of the world by ensuring that an increasing portion of study abroad by Americans takes place in nontraditional destinations.
An Innovative Public-Private Partnership
To administer the program, the legislation creates a lean, mission-driven, independent government foundation, taking a unique approach that will enable the program to meet its bold mandate through creative and entrepreneurial grant making, and to serve long-term foreign policy and national security needs while operating independently of short-term political and foreign policy considerations. The foundation will also be able to leverage funds through support from the private sector.
The program will provide both scholarships to students and encourage higher-education institutions to address the on-campus factors that most heavily impact study abroad participation – curriculum, faculty involvement, institutional leadership, programming – by making a commitment to institutional reform a prerequisite for the receipt of federal funds.
It is this leveraging of institutional reform that is the key to the success of the program. The opportunities for public-private collaboration built into the program’s vision will create a critical multiplier effect and make it possible to truly revolutionize study abroad in the United States – to make it an integral part of the 21st-century education of American college students.
Brief History of the Legislation
The Simon Study Abroad Act was inspired by and takes its name from the late Senator Paul Simon, who encouraged Congress to come together to ensure that the next generation of Americans is prepared with global knowledge and skills. A bipartisan federal commission known as the Lincoln Commission subsequently recommended a national effort to dramatically increase study abroad by Americans. Senator Durbin, who served on the Lincoln Commission, and Senator Coleman first introduced legislation in the last Congress calling for such a program. The bill had overwhelming bipartisan support, garnering 46 co-sponsors before the session ended. S. 991 builds on the momentum created in the last Congress and brings us closer to realizing Senator Simon’s vision.
The Simon Study Abroad Act has earned resounding support from the academic and educational-exchange communities, as well as from policymakers on both sides of the aisle.
Policy Brief is a periodic electronic information resource for policy news and analysis on international education issues, published by NAFSA: Association of International Educators.
With over 9,000 members NAFSA is the world's largest nonprofit association dedicated to international education. NAFSA seeks to increase awareness of and support for international education and exchanges in higher education and government, believing that citizens with international experience and global awareness are crucial to U.S. leadership, competitiveness, and security.
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