The U.S.- Indonesian Partnership Program (USIPP) is a two-year initiative sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA). USIPP brings together six U.S. institutions with six Indonesian institutions to develop new, innovative study abroad strategies with the aim of increasing the number of U.S. undergraduate students studying abroad for credit in Indonesia.
Over the two-year period, USIPP will work to develop and pilot new study abroad programs for students from the United States. The initiative includes interviews with the participating students and university administrators to identify lessons learned and next steps; an Indonesia-based workshop in Bandung and a U.S-based workshop in Washington, DC; and two major white papers, based on findings from the program, which will serve as a hands-on tool for international education practitioners.
The program aims to build a foundation for expanding academic partnerships between other U.S. and Indonesian institutions, enabling faculty and students at home and host campuses to deepen mutual understanding and broaden the ongoing exchange of individuals and ideas between the U.S. and Indonesia. These aims will be met by identifying both general and country-specific best practices in preparing for and building study abroad capacity; disseminating these resources to the wider higher education community; and deepening the academic engagement of faculty and institutions in the U.S. and Indonesia.
One of the first USIPP activities was a survey conducted in Winter 2010/11 to better understand the perception of U.S. institutions regarding challenges and opportunites for increasing the number of student abroad students to Indonesia and to inform future recommendations on how to address challenges related to expanding U.S. study abroad to Indonesia. The results of this survey were synthesized into an IIE briefing paper, "Expanding U.S. Study Abroad to Indonesia: U.S. Perspectives and Strategies for Expansion," and also formed the basis for the April 2011 Bandung Workshop. In 2012, the findings from the briefing paper were added to results from an additional survey of Indonesian higher education administrators to create the first USIPP white paper, "Expanding U.S. Study Abroad to Indonesia: U.S. and Indonesian Perspectives and Strategies for Expansion." In February 2012, USIPP participants gathered in the U.S. for the second and final USIPP workshop in Washington, DC, which was followed by short-term professional development programs at U.S. campuses.
According to IIE’s annual Open Doors Report on International Educational Exchange, also supported by ECA, an average of about 7,000 students from Indonesia have been enrolled at U.S. colleges and universities during the past several academic years, while the number of U.S. student studying in Indonesia has averaged below 100. In the 2009/10 academic year (the most recent year for which we have data), the number of U.S. students increased by 25.6%, with a reported 221 students studying in Indonesia for academic credit. USIPP aims to help increase this number even more, which is in line with the overarching government goal to triple the number U.S. students studying abroad in Indonesia.
Learn more about the capabilities of the U.S.—Indonesia Partnership Program (237 KB, PDF)