The U.S. Study Abroad Branch (ECA/A/S/Q) within the Office of Global Educational Programs in the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, U.S. Department of State, is pleased to announce an open competition for proposals to administer the FY2021 Increase and Diversify Education Abroad for U.S. Students (IDEAS) Program, formerly known as the Capacity Building Program for U.S. Study Abroad.

The IDEAS Program is designed to increase and diversify American student mobility in support of U.S. foreign policy goals. It is imperative that next generation of leaders — American 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 and economic prosperity

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 accredited U.S. higher education institutions to increase and/or diversify U.S. student mobility 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 study abroad to new overseas destinations, particularly those that are less common study abroad destinations;
• 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
• Increasing the number of U.S. higher education institutions offering study abroad programs, including but not limited to community colleges, Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs), and institutions in states with traditionally lower study abroad numbers.

The FY2021 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. 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 execute one national competition for the provision of no fewer than 20 total sub-awards of $35,000 or less to accredited U.S. higher education institutions to create, expand, and/or diversify their study abroad programs in support of U.S. foreign policy goals. Sub-awards should support programs for primarily undergraduate students. Selection criteria for sub-awards 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 sub-award 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 in the NOFO.
• Implementation of Other Capacity Building Initiatives: The award recipient will design and implement initiatives for the wider U.S. study abroad 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 American 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. Applicants proposing in-person activities should provide justification for in-person meeting costs and rationale for why meeting in-person is necessary to the activities’ success. Proposals for this element should not exceed $150,000 in total.

Funding Information

• Approximate Number of Awards: 1
• Approximate Average Award: $1,500,000, pending the availability of funds
• Floor of Award Range: None
• Ceiling of Award Range: $1,500,000 pending the availability of funds

Expected Program Outcomes

The program outcomes are outlined below.

• Accredited U.S. higher education institutions 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; and
  • Increase the number of U.S. undergraduate students studying or interning abroad for academic credit, with an emphasis on diversifying both the students and institutions taking part in study abroad and the destinations to which they travel.
• 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.

Eligible Applicants

U.S. public and private non-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.

For more information, visit Grants.gov.