100,000 Strong in the Americas: Expanding Hemispheric Exchange in the Higher Education

This project for university administrators and ministry of education officials from five countries in the Western Hemisphere sought to provide a broad overview of higher education in the United State as well as to promote international exchange and the globalization of higher education in the United States and across the hemisphere. The project shared its name with the “100,000 Strong in the Americas” initiative, announced by President Obama in 2011, to promote economic prosperity and workforce development through increased student exchanges between the United States and other Western Hemisphere countries. Through visits with institutions of higher learning, education focused non-profits, and organizations devoted to promoting international exchange, the program sought to explore different approaches to the internationalization of education, recruiting and serving foreign students, study abroad programs, research collaboration and other faculty-to-faculty linkages, and requirements to establish institutional partnerships. This Spanish speaking regional project (RP) included six participants from five countries. The program itinerary included stops in Washington, DC; Raleigh, NC; Albuquerque and Santa Fe, NM; and San Francisco, CA