Increase and Diversify Education Abroad for U.S. Students (IDEAS) Program – US

The IDEAS Program advances the Bureau’s objective of supporting mutual understanding between the people of the United States and other countries by building the institutional capacity of U.S. higher education institutions to increase and/or diversify U.S. study abroad in support of U.S. foreign policy goals. For the purposes of this award, diversification of study abroad programming includes but is not limited to:

• Expanding the higher education institutions offering U.S. study abroad programs, including but not limited to community colleges, Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs), and institutions in states with traditionally lower study abroad numbers.
• Increasing the number of study abroad students from groups that are currently underrepresented in study abroad, which may include but are not limited to first generation students, racial/ethnic minority students, students with disabilities, and/or students from underrepresented academic disciplines; and
• Expanding study abroad to new, safe overseas destinations, particularly those that are less common study abroad destinations.

Purpose

• The IDEAS Program is designed to increase and diversify U.S. study abroad in support of U.S. foreign policy goals. It is imperative that the next generation of leaders — U.S. students of all backgrounds — engage internationally to foster mutual understanding and develop global skills in fields that are key to supporting U.S. national security, economic prosperity, and connection with the world. Through the provision of small grants and virtual and/or in-person capacity building initiatives, the IDEAS Program supports U.S. higher education institutions to create and expand study abroad programming that will best prepare their students with the global skills needed in their communities, as well as in the United States at large. The program directly benefits U.S. communities by preparing U.S. students of all backgrounds with cultural competencies, foreign language skills, personal and/or professional networks in other countries, and academic and/or professional knowledge that prepare them for successful careers. The program also directly advances mutual understanding between the United States and other countries by building institutional capacity to send more U.S. students to more destinations, where they serve as citizen ambassadors by sharing U.S. culture and values with their peers. The IDEAS Program plays an important role in increasing and diversifying the U.S. higher education institutions engaging in study abroad, the population of U.S. students who study abroad, and the destinations where they study. Program activities may as a secondary benefit build foreign colleges and universities’ capacity to work with their U.S. partners and host more U.S. students – thereby helping to increase and diversify destinations where U.S. students can safely study abroad – but the primary program goal and focus of project activities is building U.S. higher education capacity.

Program Components

• The FY 2024 IDEAS Program aims to increase and diversify study abroad through two main components, the administration of small grants and the implementation of capacity building initiatives for the U.S. higher education community. Pending availability of funds, the recipient will work in close consultation with ECA to implement these two components under this award:
  • Administration of Small Grants to Support Capacity Building: The award recipient will implement at least one open, merit-based competition that will result in approximately 32 subawards to accredited U.S. colleges and universities to create, expand, and/or diversify their study abroad programs in support of U.S. foreign policy goals. The award recipient should look for efficiencies to maximize the number of subawards available thereby providing further opportunities to U.S. institutions under this program. Selection criteria for subawards should fully reflect the overall goals and criteria for the small grants as stated in Section A of this NOFO. The award recipient will provide programmatic support and guidance to subaward applicants and recipients and monitor the fiscal and programmatic progress of the recipients and their projects, as well as the final impact of the awards. The award recipient will provide semi-annual reports on results to ECA. Additionally, the recipient is required to alert the Program Office of any impediments to successful implementation as they arise and consult with ECA to resolve programmatic and/or financial challenges. The recipient must provide an evaluation of activities as outlined below.
  • Implementation of Capacity Building Initiatives for the U.S. Higher Education Community: The award recipient will design and implement initiatives for the wider U.S. higher education community to increase and diversify U.S. student mobility abroad. These initiatives may take the form of in-person and/or virtual workshops, seminars, trainings and/or other creative mechanisms to bolster the capacity and knowledge sharing of and by U.S. higher education staff and faculty to expand U.S. student mobility overseas. Applicants should propose at least six total virtual and/or in-person capacity building activities, which can be of various formats and lengths, for the wider higher education community. For any in-person activities, proposals should include relevant funding to enable broad and diverse participation of U.S. higher education representatives, including those requiring financial support to participate. Proposals for this element should not exceed $150,000 in total.

Funding Information

• Approximate Total Funding: $2,100,000, pending the availability of funds.
• Approximate Number of Awards: 1
• Approximate Average Award: $2,100,000, pending the availability of funds.
• Anticipated Award Date: June 1, 2024
• Anticipated Project Completion Date: December 31, 2027

Expected Program Outcomes

• The program outcomes are outlined below.
  • Accredited U.S. colleges and universities representing the diversity of U.S. higher education will:
    • Create or expand their capacity to administer study abroad programs that are primarily for U.S. undergraduate students and align with U.S. foreign policy goals;
    • Increase and diversify the U.S. undergraduate students they send to study or intern abroad for academic credit, including those from historically underrepresented groups; and
    • Expand study abroad to new overseas destinations, particularly those that are less common study abroad destinations.
  • The IDEAS Program will collect, develop, and share best practices for increasing and diversifying study abroad opportunities for U.S. students with the broader U.S. higher education community through trainings and other capacity building initiatives.

Eligibility Criteria

• Eligible Applicants: U.S. public and private academic and cultural institutions, exchange-of-persons, and other not for-profit organizations meeting the provisions described in Internal Revenue Code section 26 USC 501(c)(3) may submit applications for this competition. Applicants must have nonprofit status with the IRS at the time of application.
• Other Eligibility Requirements
  • The following additional eligibility requirements apply to this NOFO announcement:
    • ECA’s grant guidelines require that organizations with less than four years of experience in conducting international exchanges be limited to $130,000 in ECA funding. ECA anticipates making one cooperative agreement, in an amount of approximately $2,100,000 to support all costs required to implement this program. Therefore, organizations with less than four years of experience in conducting international exchanges are ineligible to apply under this competition.
    • All proposals must comply with the requirements stated in the NOFO and the Proposal Submission Instructions (PSI); non-compliance will result in your proposal being declared technically ineligible and given no further consideration in the review process.
    • In order to be eligible to receive an award, all organizations must have a Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) number.
    • Only one proposal will be considered by ECA from each applicant organization.

For more information, visit Grants.gov.