Cairo – In partnership with the Egyptian Ministries of International Cooperation and Higher Education, the U.S. Government launched the U.S.-Egypt Higher Education Initiative today to provide educational opportunities for high-achieving Egyptians to learn skills that will better meet the needs of the 21^st century economy.  Through this $250 million initiative, the U.S. Government will provide up to 1,900 university scholarships and exchanges to Egyptians to study in Egypt and the United States and will support up to 20 higher education partnerships to strengthen research and exchanges between Egyptian and U.S. universities. 

“Today we celebrate a new and exciting chapter in the educational history of our two nations – the comprehensive three year panorama of scholarships and university partnerships that the American government and people will fund and support,” said U.S. Ambassador to Egypt R. Stephen Beecroft. “The U.S.-Egypt Higher Education Initiative is a sign of U.S. commitment to Egypt’s future.”

This initiative has five scholarship components in strategic fields that will contribute to Egypt’s economic prosperity.  One hundred women will pursue Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) programs at universities in the United States.  Sixty women will pursue programs in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics at U.S. universities.  Two local scholarship programs will help 550 high achieving, low income students (men and women) study at private and fee-based public universities in Egypt.  HEI also includes more than 50 Fulbright scholarships to pursue Master’s degree and doctoral programs in the U.S., as well as over a thousand exchanges and study abroad opportunities.  Interested students can visit http://egypt.usembassy.gov for more information.

As part of the U.S.-Egypt Higher Education Initiative, the U.S. Government is investing in partnerships between Egyptian and American universities to increase the knowledge exchange, joint research, and shared degree programs. These partnerships will help meet the needs of a modern economy in critical disciplines such as agribusiness, engineering, and entrepreneurship.  The partnership program will help Egyptian universities improve their competitiveness in the global knowledge-based economy and will provide the Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE) and the Supreme Council of Universities with technical assistance to develop a plan for critical higher education reforms. 

The U.S. Government has a long history of providing scholarships and exchange opportunities to Egyptians through the U.S. Embassy, including via programs offered by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Binational Fulbright Commission in Egypt (BFCE).  To date, thousands of Egyptians have benefited from this forty-year partnership.

For more information, please visit the HEI page on the U.S. Embassy Cairo's website and watch the HEI video at http://goo.gl/ZSMvc1.