CIEE has announced that it will be providing a sum of $500,000 in the form of scholarships to study abroad to almost 100 high schools throughout the US.

CIEE: The Council on International Education Exchange, founded in the year 1947, is the oldest as well as the largest not-for-profit institution of the US. The main directive of this institution is the exchange of intercultural education opportunities and helping increase international study opportunities.

This is in accordance with its promise to provide $20 million in the form of scholarships and various types of grants by the year 2020.

CIEE offers these scholarships as Part of its IIE Generation Study Abroad™ Initiative.

The Institute of International Education (IIE) founded in the year of 1919, is a giant in the field of International exchange of both people as well as ideas. The organization which is an independent as well as non-profit institution is the parent body which has launched the Generation Study Abroad plan, which stretches across five years and which intends to increase the number of U.S students who are studying abroad to almost double the current amount by the year 2020 by bringing together students, teachers, governments and associations.

CIEE also intends to initiate several other important steps in an effort to increase opportunities to study abroad at both secondary and post-secondary education levels. Through these steps CIEE plans to eradicate several barriers which had prevented U.S students from studying abroad such as cultural differences as well as cost and curriculum ones.

The President of IIE, Mr. Allan E. Goodman has said,“Study abroad is widely acknowledged by leaders in education, government, and business as one of the most important components of a 21st-century education.

Globalization brings the demand for a U.S. workforce that possesses knowledge of other countries and cultures and is competent in languages other than English,” Mr. Goodman who is also the Chief Executive officer of IIE has also added that “The earlier we can engage students in immersive study abroad programs to learn from and about other cultures, the sooner an entire generation will adopt a broader worldview.”

This initiative by CIEE is an important building block in the larger Generation Study Abroad plan by IIE. Through the $500,000 scholarship CIEE intends to reach out to high school and post high school students as well as teachers and thus encourage study abroad opportunities.

IIE’s Generation Study Abroad plan also strives to increase the number of internationally acclaimed schools that are present in the U.S and will provide the funds necessary to do the same.

CIEE has also had several meetings in an effort to pinpoint the schools to which the scholarships shall be provided and has decided that only those schools which have shown an appetitefor expanding the opportunities of international education for its students and which have been actively promoting the international study exchange with CIEE will be receiving the allotted scholarships by CIEE.

Through this initiative students will be able to avail anyone of the thirty programmes as part of their summer study abroad plan. The programs will be spread across 16 destinations all over the world, providing students with an opportunity to experience foreign culture and curriculum. The students can choose from several programs such as academic content programs, programs which deal with international community service as well as language programs which include Arabic, Spanish, German, French, Japanese, Italian and Chinese

James P. Pellow, Ed.D. who is the chief executive officer as well as the president of CIEE has said, “The opportunity of study abroad isn’t just an important part of a well-rounded educational experience. It’s increasingly important for success in our modern global economy.

Getting ahead in today’s workplaces isn’t just about the skills students gain in the classroom. It’s also about the opportunity to travel beyond our borders and encounter other customs, languages, and cultures that are very different from our own,”