IDEAS Grant Competition

The deadline for the 2025 IDEAS grant competition has now passed.

The U.S. Department of State’s IDEAS Program 2025 IDEAS grant competition assists U.S. colleges and universities in creating and/or expanding their study abroad programming in support of U.S. foreign policy goals. U.S. colleges and universities are invited to submit applications for projects to create and/or expand outbound study abroad programs and/or resources that align with U.S. foreign policy goals.

The 2025 grant competition will award approximately 35 grants of up to $35,000 each to accredited colleges and universities. This cycle will also provide an opportunity for consortia of U.S. colleges and universities to apply for additional funding for collaborative projects focused on preparing the workforce of the future.

Phase One of the 2025 IDEAS grant competition is now closed. Applicants will receive notification of their application status in February 2025.

General Application Information

Eligibility Criteria:
  1. The grant competition is open to accredited U.S. colleges and universities physically based in the United States or its territories with a broad range of capacity to administer study abroad programs. This includes institutions that currently have limited or no experience administering study abroad programs as well as those with established programs;
  2. Proposals must support primarily U.S. undergraduate student mobility abroad, although graduate student participation in programs is allowed. Proposals do not need to support the creation or expansion of a specific study abroad program. The IDEAS Program welcomes innovative ideas for how to build (or rebuild) study abroad capacity on campus or nationally, for example, through the creation of study abroad resources addressing outreach needs on an applicant’s campus or the development of virtual activities to complement in-person exchanges;
  3. Funding may not be used to support direct outbound or inbound student costs, including but not limited to scholarships, travel, passports, tuition, or meals for U.S. or foreign students. Funds may be used to support U.S. faculty and/or staff travel overseas as well as travel for foreign faculty and/or staff to come to the United States to support program development. Group travel or program costs such as ground transportation, room rental, or cultural visit or tour fees that include both faculty and student participants are allowable. These group costs should be limited to no more than 5% of the total budget. All grant-funded travel must comply with the Fly America Act;
  4. While an institution as a whole may submit more than one proposal, individual units within an institution (i.e., schools, colleges, offices) may submit only one application each. If an institution is organized into a single school or college, it may only submit one proposal. Individual campuses within wider university systems will be considered separate institutions.
    1. Example 1: The School of Business of X University and the School of Nursing at the same X University may each submit separate proposals.
    2. Example 2: Within the School of Business of X University, the Marketing Department and Finance Department may only submit one proposal total.
    3. Example 3: The School of Business of X University – City A and the School of Business of X University – City B may each submit separate proposals.
  5. IDEAS grants can support the development of in-person study abroad programming in foreign locations with a U.S. Department of State Travel Advisory Level 1, 2, or 3. Development of in-person programming in foreign locations with a U.S. Department of State Travel Advisory Level 4 is not permitted.
    1. In the event that a proposal is selected for an IDEAS grant and the destination changes to a Level 4, the recipient may be required to change their program location or other planned program activities to align with U.S. Department of State travel policies.
    2. The IDEAS Program reserves the right to request program changes for specific countries or areas if deemed necessary during any stage of the application, selection process, or program period. Final awards are contingent upon the availability of funds and the security situation in-country. Furthermore, grant-funded overseas travel and in-person activities abroad may be suspended in consultation with the U.S. Embassy in-country during the course of the program.
    3. Note: If selected for an IDEAS grant, institutions using funds to support travel to foreign locations will be required to share travel and safety information with the IDEAS Program, and those traveling to Level 3 locations will need to provide additional safety details. More information will be provided on this following award issuance.
  6. IDEAS grants can support the development of virtual study abroad programming in all foreign locations, regardless of their U.S. Department of State Travel Advisory level.

Phase Two Proposal Components

In the proposal phase, selected semi-finalists provide additional details on their project idea, including a calendar of activities, monitoring and evaluation plan, and other components. The IDEAS Program holds several informational webinars for semi-finalists on best practices in drafting these technical pieces of their proposals. Recordings of those trainings will be made available to the public following the live sessions.

Semi-finalists invited to Phase Two of this grant competition must submit a full grant proposal inclusive of the items listed below via the application portal.

  1. Proposal Narrative (maximum 15 pages)
    1. Cover Page (1 page)
    2. Table of Contents (1 page)
    3. Executive Summary (1 page)
    4. Program Description (4-6 pages)
      1. Statement of Need
      2. Capacity Building Plan
      3. Project Activities
      4. Project Management Plan
    5. Foreign Policy Goal Alignment (1 page)
    6. Sustainability Plan (1 page)
    7. Monitoring and Evaluation Plan (1 page)
    8. Budget Narrative (2-3 pages)
  2. Proposal Attachments
    1. Calendar of Activities (1 spreadsheet, template provided)
    2. Logic Model (1 page, template provided)
    3. Key Staff Resumes (2 pages, 1 document)
    4. Budget Spreadsheet (1 spreadsheet, 2 tabs, optional template provided)
      1. Budget Summary
      2. Detailed Budget
2025 IDEAS Consortium Grant, Preparing the Workforce of the Future

The IDEAS Program will award approximately one grant of up to $50,000 under the 2025 IDEAS grant competition to a consortium of at least two U.S colleges and/or universities to collaborate on building study abroad capacity, programs, and resources at U.S. colleges and universities that will focus on preparing the workforce of the future.

Through this consortium grant, the IDEAS Program aims to:

  1. encourage collaboration and resource-sharing within U.S. higher education on how to use international education to more effectively prepare a future workforce that is equipped with global skills needed to meet local industry needs and drive U.S. economic prosperity;
  2. increase study abroad capacity and programs linked to local workforce development goals;
  3. provide expanded opportunities for U.S. students to participate in global workforce development opportunities, preparing them to participate in good-paying skilled jobs.

Applicants will need to identify an emerging or established but growing industry in their community that is currently facing a gap in skilled workers and outline how their proposal IDEAS grant project will help students obtain the international skills needed for their local workforce. This industry could be in any field, ranging from agriculture to cybersecurity to public health, but applicants will need to detail the industry-specific skills in demand in their community and how the proposed international programming will help develop them. Applicants will also be required to outline how they will share the lessons learned on developing study abroad programs and resources aligned with industry needs with the wider study abroad community. Consortium applications will need to engage at least two accredited higher education institutions collaborating to address workforce needs in their communities.

As with all IDEAS grant applications, consortium grant applicants may propose a variety of project activities as outlined in Section 1b of the RFP that aim at building study abroad capacity on their specific campuses. Regardless of the programming proposed, all consortium grant applicants must allocate at least $5,000 of their budgets to developing and sharing resources with the wider U.S. higher education community.

For full details on the IDEAS consortium grant, please review section 2c of the Phase One Request for Proposals.

Applications for an IDEAS consortium grant may also be considered for a $35,000 IDEAS grant, pending availability of funding.

2025 Application Timeline

October 15, 2024: Phase One opens
October 22, 2024: IDEAS Grant Competition Informational Webinar
November 7, 2024: Deep Dive: Aligning Your Proposal with U.S. Department of State Priorities
November 13, 2024: Ask A Grantee Webinar
December 12, 2024: Phase One closes
January 2025: Applications reviewed by study abroad professionals
February 2025: Semi-finalist selection announced; Phase Two begins
March 2025: Semi-finalist applicant webinar trainings (dates TBA)
April 17, 2025: Phase Two closes; Semi-finalists submit full proposals
April-May 2025: Applications reviewed by study abroad professionals
June 2025: Finalists announced
September 1, 2025 -February 28, 2027: Grant period of performance



Grant Competition Resources

Phase One of the 2025 grant competition is now closed. Applicants can access additional resources via the application portal.

TitleDescriptionResource LinkCategoryTypehf:tax:resource_categoryhf:tax:resource_tag
IDEAS Grant Competition Budget Template

Select semi-finalist applicants are invited to use this optional template to draft their proposed IDEAS grant budget.

Download Excel

TemplatesTemplatetemplatestemplate
IDEAS Grant Competition: Shipley Proposal Process

Proposal development resource

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Instructions, Request for ProposalsTemplateinstructions rfptemplate
Logic Model Sample

An example of a completed logic model

Download PDF

TemplatesTemplatetemplatestemplate
Phase Two Logic Model Template

Template to develop Phase Two logic model

Download Doc

Instructions, Request for Proposals, TemplatesTemplateinstructions rfp templatestemplate

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