Educational and cultural exchange programs were mentioned twice during a hearing of the Senate State-Foreign Operations (SFOPS) Appropriations Subcommittee this week. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson appeared before the committee to review the administration’s FY2018 budget request for the U.S. Department of State.
A new report, National K-12 Foreign Language Enrollment Survey Report, provides a comprehensive update on the state of K-12 and K-16 foreign language enrollment data in the United States, where more than 21 percent of households speak a language other than English at home.
The Trump administration’s proposed FY2018 budget, released on May 23, includes a 55% cut to Educational and Cultural Exchange Programs compared to the $634 million funding level provided in the FY2017 omnibus bill that was passed and signed into law earlier this month. The administration’s budget would fund exchange programs at $285 million [refer to pp. 770-771 of the Appendix for exchanges].
The American Council on Education (ACE) released a new report, U.S.-Mexico Higher Education Engagement: Current Activities, Future Directions, assessing higher education ties between the two countries amidst a hectic political relationship. Administered by ACE’s Center for Internationalization and Global Engagement (CIGE), the report identifies strides in existing partnerships, while providing data-based recommendations for policy and practice to address ongoing challenges.
The Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES), Brazil’s higher education body, recently announced a new international financing regime to replace the Sciences Without Borders (CSF) initiative.
The Brookings Institution released its 2017 Report on American Education, revealing survey results of international high schools students in the U.S. and their perspective on American education. The report, administered by the Brown Center on Education Policy, is a replicate and a comparative analysis of a similar study conducted in 2001.