Thank you for your generous support of the Institute of International Education (IIE). Contributions from donors like you are critical to our efforts to increase opportunities for young Americans to study abroad, support students and scholars from countries in crisis, and advance higher education around the world.
Our latest Annual Report highlights key accomplishments that your financial support has made possible. I would like to share some of the recent outcomes and stories from IIE-managed programs with you, and ask that you continue to invest in IIE’s work this spring by donating now.
Each year, more than 5,300 U.S. students study abroad on IIE-administered scholarships. Brittany, a first-generation college student from Gary, Indiana, at Princeton University, would not be able to study in Greece without a grant from the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship Program, which IIE administers on behalf of the U.S. Department of State. Last year, the program awarded nearly 3,300 scholarships to diverse students with high financial need. Eighty-six percent of these students would not have been able to study abroad without a Gilman award. The percentage of African-American recipients in the Gilman Program is four times greater than their percentage in the U.S. study abroad population.
In 2012, IIE led the higher education community’s response to the crisis in Syria through the IIE Syria Consortium for Higher Education in Crisis and IIE’s Scholar Rescue Fund (SRF). Among the beneficiaries is Dr. Moaz, one of Syria’s foremost experts on the history of Islamic art and architecture. Dr. Moaz is now continuing his academic work in safety at Indiana University following a dramatic escape from his home country. With your support, SRF has provided safe haven to nearly 500 scholars from 48 countries, allowing them to resume their teaching and research in safety.
Your generosity also enables IIE to actively support higher education in countries in transition. Most recently, IIE led a ground-breaking delegation of U.S. higher education representatives to Myanmar. This delegation will produce landmark new initiatives to develop visiting lecture programs, expand English language teaching programs, improve technological capacity, and assist university libraries. These efforts – made possible with your support – will help to rebuild what was once considered one of Asia’s strongest higher education systems.
Please help us continue our important work by making a gift to IIE today. Your contribution will enable IIE to increase access to international education and respond to urgent challenges affecting students and scholars around the world.
With best regards,
Dr. Allan E. Goodman
President and CEO, Institute of International Education