2024 Foreign Policy Goals

All institutions applying for an IDEAS grant must substantively address one or more of the following U.S. foreign policy goals through their program activities. Competitive proposals will consider these goals in the context of travel and activities abroad as well as potential impact on U.S. communities and students’ career readiness. Examples of potential program themes are provided, but applicant institutions will want to demonstrate creativity in selecting topics that are authentic to their institutional mission and goals. Further examples of project ideas categorized by foreign policy goals can be found in Appendix C: Foreign Policy Goals in Action of the Request for Proposals.

• Civil Society, Journalism, and Education
  • Example programming could focus on the role civil society, journalism, and/or education play in shaping public knowledge, social movements, and governance.
• Climate, Energy, and the Environment
  • Example programming could focus on addressing the climate crisis, conserving nature, economic promise of climate action, food security, ocean and polar affairs, renewable energy, and sustainable agriculture.
• Democracy and Human Rights
  • Example programming could focus on governance, human trafficking, immigration, refugees, and women’s empowerment.
• Economic Development and Entrepreneurship
  • Example programming could focus on business, closing skills gaps in local communities, human resources, infrastructure, resource development, and trade.
• Global Health
  • Example programming could focus on combating drugs, contagious and infectious diseases, COVID-19 recovery, nursing, and public health policy and management.
• Technology and Innovation
  • Example programming could focus on artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, critical and emerging technologies, digital engagement and policies, engineering, and technology cooperation.

NOTE: In both phases of the grant proposal, applicants will be asked to indicate which U.S. foreign policy goal(s) their proposed projects plan to address and how they will seek to address it. Applicants may address more than one foreign policy goal but should identify a primary foreign policy goal of focus.

TIP: Proposals that request funding to support the development of resources targeting specific student groups or to create an institution’s first study abroad program may fit best under the Economic Development and Entrepreneurship foreign policy goal. The proposal may then detail how the international experience related to the proposed program activities will help students to develop global career skills that they can use to support their future careers or economic development in their local community.

IDEAS Consortium Grant, Community College Consortia

In support of the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022, the IDEAS Program will award approximately one grant of up to $50,000 under the 2024 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. community colleges that will prepare students for careers in STEM, technical, and/or vocational fields. Community college students have been historically underrepresented in study abroad, and through this consortium grant, the IDEAS Program aims to:

1. Encourage collaboration and resource-sharing within U.S. higher education with the goal of increasing study abroad capacity and programs at community colleges,
2. Share best practices on engaging community colleges students with the wider U.S. higher education community, and
3. Provide expanded opportunities for community colleges and their students to participate in global STEM, technical, and/or vocational education opportunities, preparing them to participate in good-paying skilled jobs.

Consortium grant activities under this initiative can engage and benefit all students, but applicants should detail how their proposed projects will be inclusive of and engage students in STEM, vocational, and/or technical fields at community colleges, as well as community college faculty and staff.

At least one institution in the consortium must be officially recognized as a community college, which will be defined using the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education to include Associate’s Colleges, which are institutions at which the highest-level degree awarded is an associate’s degree, as well as Baccalaureate/Associate’s Colleges, which confer more than 50% of degrees at the associate’s level.

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 or across community colleges more broadly. 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. Example of how IDEAS grantees are addressing this goal can be found here.

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