U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan on International Education Week 2011

Budget Debate Advances on Hill for FY12 - NAFSA Highlights Key Priorities for International Education

In the midst of the debt ceiling negotiations here in the United States, the FY 12 budget debate is also heating up, and there is a lot at stake for higher education and international education. We've already seen the United States Department of Education cancel the Fulbright-Hays international research programs (if you are a U.S. citizen and would like to electronically sign a petition to Save Fulbright-Hays Programs you can do so here) due to budget cuts.  The Department of Education also cancelled the Title VI American Overseas Research Centers (AORC) program (and you can electronically sign a petition to Restore Funding to American Overseas Research Centers here) due to the same budget cuts.  And, just last week The Chronicle of Higher Education reported that the House Foreign Affairs Committee voted to to eliminate The East-West Center.  According to the Chronicle, the legislation "would repeal a 1960 law that established the East-West Center, which allows American scholars, students, journalists, and government and business leaders to study, train, and conduct research with their counterparts from Asia and the Pacific. The nonprofit organization receives $21-million from the federal government and $10-million more from corporations, foundations, and other governments."


NAFSA: Association of International Educators is reporting today that CEO Marlene Johnson sent letters last week to key members of the House Appropriations Committee requesting their support in funding international activities in the Departments of State, Education and Commerce for FY 2012.  You can read Marlene Johnson's letters here.  NAFSA has also highlighted key international education priorities as the FY 2012 budget is debated in Washington, D.C. which you can read here.  If you haven't yet joined NAFSA's Connecting Our World at http://www.connectingourworld.org/ I strongly encourage you to do so and you can be a voice for international education.  There is more to Connecting Our World than just joining.  You must take action when necessary and NAFSA makes it so easy it will literally take 20 seconds of your day to let your elected officials in Washington know the importance of international education programming to the United States.


All of this really shouldn't be a surprise.  Back on October 28, 2010 I reported here on IHEC Blog that then Republican Senate Candidate for Pennsylvania Pat Toomey (now Senator Pat Toomey) had twice spoken on national media outlets as the November election neared about cutting funding and consolidating federal international educational exchange programs and funding (you can watch his interviews here).  We have still not fully recovered from one of the worst financial crises in the history of the United States and, to be sure, we need to make budget cuts across the board (including to international education programming) but it is critical that your voice be heard because you can imagine how Mr. Toomey will vote (and there are many more of his colleagues out there that feel the same about international education programs).


Across the Atlantic our friends over in Europe think a bit different about international exchange programs and according to EurActive.com "Europe's most celebrated student exchange programme is set to win a 71% funding increase under European Commission plans for the 2014-2020 budget, with education and training schemes now all regrouped under the Erasmus brand.  The education sector won the biggest percentage increase under the EU's long-term budget and is set to leap 71%, from €8.76 billion to €15.2 billion, for the period 2014-2020 under proposals submitted last week."


Photo credit:  Images_of_Money

Save Fulbright Hays Programs

I just learned on Twitter [via @GlobalHigherEd] that the Department of Education has cancelled the FY 2011 Fulbright Hays program.  An online petition has been established and I encourage all IHEC Blog readers to visit and sign the online petition to the 112th Congress of the United States of America.  Take a moment to sign the petition at http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/SaveFulbrightHaysPrograms/

International and Foreign Language Education Service (IFLE)/Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE) - Special Focus Competitionss

Announcements by Office of Postsecondary Education, Department of Education in the Federal Register that may be of interest to IHEC Blog readers:

International and Foreign Language Education Service (IFLE): Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE) - Special Focus Competition: Program for North American Mobility in Higher Education

Deadline for Transmittal of Applications: May 17, 2011.

Deadline for Intergovernmental Review: July 16, 2011.

More information at http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2011-03-25/pdf/2011-7128.pdf

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International and Foreign Language Education Service (IFLE): Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE) - Special Focus Competition: United States (U.S.)-Brazil Higher Education Consortia Program 

Deadline for Transmittal of Applications: May 13, 2011. 

Deadline for Intergovernmental Review: July 12, 2011.

More information at http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2011-03-29/pdf/2011-7356.pdf

Republican Senate Candidate Pat Toomey [PA] Proposes Budget Cuts to and Consolidation of Federal International Education Programs During Two National Television Interviews

Update November 3, 2010:  Pat Toomey has been elected as the next Senator from the great state of Pennsylvania.


I just learned (via Twitter) the Pennsylvania Republican Senate candidate Pat Toomey proposed budget cuts to Federal international education programs as a way to offset some of the cost of the tax cuts he proposes.


On Sunday, October 24th while speaking with Christopher Wallace of Fox News (video below ~ focus on cutting international education programs starts at the 7:17 minute mark), Mr. Toomey stated the following: "You know, we found 75 different programs between the Department of Education and the Department of State that all subsidize one form or another of overseas student travel and student education. That's the kind of waste and duplication that we can rein in."


Update April 14, 2011:  Fox video no longer available but transcript of the interview is available at http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/fox-news-sunday/transcript/pat-toomey-and-joe-manchin-039fox-news-sunday039


Update July 26, 2011:  Looks like the video is back.


The day after the Fox News interview, Mr. Toomey was interviewed by Larry Kudlow on CNBC (video below ~ focus on cutting international education programs starts at the 0:26 minute mark) and he [Mr. Toomey] again focused on cutting/consolidating the 75 different international education programs of the Departments of State and Education and stated: "Well, I’d bring an end to bailouts. I would rescind the unspent portion of the stimulus. I would prohibit earmarks…I’d also like to consolidate programs. You know, we discovered 75 different programs between the Departments of State and Education that all subsidize overseas travel for students, in one way or another. It’s ridiculous! We don’t need 75 such programs."



To be sure, Mr. Toomey's views on Federal international education programs is not new.  What is new is that a major candidate for the United States Senate has specifically mentioned cutting/consolidating international education programs during two separate interviews on major television outlets only days before the election.

The National Security Language Initiative (NSLI) Pipeline

Back in January, 2006 then-President George W. Bush announced the launch of the National Security Language Initiative (NSLI) with the Secretaries of State, Education and Defense along with the Director of National Intelligence coordinating this national effort to dramatically increase the learning, speaking and teaching skills of U.S. citizens in foreign languages deemed critical to U.S. national security. 

The NSLI is a “long-term investment in the nation’s critical foreign language learning capabilities and competencies” working to accomplish the following three goals[1]:

1.      Increase the number of U.S. residents studying critical-need languages and starting them at an earlier age;

2.      Increase the number of advanced-level speakers of foreign languages, with an emphasis on mastery of critical-need languages; and

3.      Increase the number of teachers of critical-need languages and providing resources for them.

The following figure provides a great visual of the National Security Language Initiative Pipeline and the various programs that are available for critical language learners.[2]

Those of you who are interested in learning more about NSLI and the preliminary results of the program will want to download the following report:

U.S. Department of Education, Office of Postsecondary Education, Enhancing Foreign Language Proficiency in the United States: Preliminary Results of the National Security Language Initiative, Washington, D.C., 2008.

Related IHEC Blog posts:

National Security Language Initiative for Youth (NSLI-Y)

The Language Flagship – Statements Before the House Armed Services Committee

Project Go – The ROTC Language & Culture Project

Cross-Cultural Awareness in the U.S. Military

Towards a More Cross-Culturally Competent United States Air Force

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[1] U.S. Department of Education, Office of Postsecondary Education, Enhancing Foreign Language Proficiency in the United States: Preliminary Results of the National Security Language Initiative, Washington, D.C., 2008, 1.

[2] Diagram of the “National Security Language Initiative Pipeline” obtained from Ibid., 2.