NEWS BRIEFS -- May 5, 2000 Volume III, Issue 2

from USAID/Mexico, November 15, 2001

USAID/Mexico Announces $50 Million Training & Education Partnership Program

Taking advantage of the unique opportunity created by two Administrations that are fully engaged in creating a new relationship between the U.S. and Mexico, the Government of the United States of America is pleased to announce a bold, six-year, $50 million Training, Internship, Education and Scholarship (TIES) Partnership Initiative that will work with and benefit many segments of U.S. and Mexican society: higher education institutions, citizen's and nongovernmental groups, the for-profit business sector and national, state and local governments.

The overarching goal of the TIES Partnership Initiative is to reduce the social disparity between the United States and Mexico via education and training programs for young Mexicans who work (or who plan to work) in areas that positively impact on Mexico's economic growth and social development.

To achieve this goal, the Partnership Initiative will support education and training programs that improve the lives and well being of Mexicans. Programs that create employment opportunities and contribute to the development of a Mexican workforce better equipped to take advantage of new economic opportunity created by NAFTA and closer U.S. - Mexico business relations will receive priority emphasis, as will programs that contribute to raising incomes, improving living standards and creating the conditions for Mexico's sustained economic growth and development. At the same time, the Partnership Initiative, by promoting increased U.S. - Mexico contact and collaboration, will broaden, deepen and strengthen professional and personal relationships at all levels of U.S. and Mexican society, and especially for U.S. and Mexican youth.

The primary objective of the TIES Partnership Initiative is to provide one thousand young Mexicans with the opportunity to study in the United States in areas where the U.S. and Mexico have mutual development and foreign policy interests. A secondary objective is to develop at least 35 strong, sustainable institutional linkages between higher education or research institutions in Mexico and the United States.

Supporting degree and non-degree training in the United States for individuals nominated by their institutions is the principle objective and main component of the Partnership Initiative. The $35 million Academic Training in the U.S. component, funded at $22.5 million in U.S. Government funding and an additional $12.5 million from non-U.S. Government sources, will cover many areas that promote economic growth and social development, including but not limited to Education and Human Capital Development, Health, Agriculture and Trade, Public Policy and Administration, Humanitarian Assistance and Conflict Resolution, Transparency and Decentralization, Information Technology, Micro and Small Business Development, Natural Resources Management, and Environmental Science and International Finance.

Most of the one thousand Mexicans who will be trained under the Academic Training components of the Partnership Initiative will pursue Master's degree programs. A limited number of special programs will provide support for undergraduate-level credit programs in the United States for selected groups such as indigenous, rural, and socially and economically disadvantaged youth. Women will receive approximately 50 percent of the TIES Partnership Initiative scholarships, education and training opportunities.

Innovative programming, for instance, virtual university and internet technology, will be utilized, where possible, to increase low-cost access to U.S. courses, bridge the digital divide between the countries and to develop new forms of institutional relationships. The TIES Partnership Initiative will fund English language and other short-term training, screening and selection mechanisms in Mexico that are required to implement priority training and education programs.

The second Partnership Initiative component is a $15 million Institutional Strengthening Through Higher Education Partnerships program, with $7.5 million in U.S. Government funding and a matching $7.5 million in non-U.S. Government funding. This component will directly support and complement the Academic Training component through technical training, student and faculty exchange, internship and sabbatical programs, collaborative research and other activities. The Institutional Strengthening component will provide a framework at key Mexican universities participating in the Academic Training component to help assure optimal conditions for returning academic trainees so that they can more directly apply their new knowledge and skills to benefit their institutions and Mexico's social and economic development. U.S. higher education institutions also will benefit through expanded contact and interaction with Mexican counterparts on development issues and programs, assuring that learning and growth will occur on both sides of the border. By encouraging credit transfer and dual degree programs, this component will increase educational, social, cultural and economic integration and collaboration between the United States and Mexico.

The TIES Partnership Initiative aims at to place all graduate-level trainees in short- or longer-term internship in the private or public sector, including, where appropriate, in internships with NGO or other civil society organizations. The internship program will be designed to provide practical knowledge of the subject matter being studied, and to expose Mexican students to American business practices, worldviews and workplace values. The internship program will marry U.S. and Mexican businesses interests with the research and training programs of Mexican graduate students. This private sector focus also intends to promote increased joint business ventures and more U.S. business investment in Mexico, especially by small and medium-sized businesses.

Administration and implementation of the Partnership Initiative will be streamlined, simple and efficient. Innovative alliances and approaches involving universities, foundations, government and business will be utilized to leverage funding and to assure comprehensive, inclusive programs and development results. Tuition waivers from U.S. educational institutions, active private sector cost-sharing from both countries, and complementary funding from foundations and other sources will assure a minimum 40% match from nongovernmental sources to augment the $30 million in U.S. Government seed-funding that is available to launch the TIES Partnership Initiative. The TIES Partnership Initiative will begin in calendar year 2002 with limited funding. The bulk of the program's funding will be provided from U.S. Government Fiscal Year 03 to Fiscal Year 07 (at the approximate level of $6 million/year in U.S. Government funding and $4 million/year in non-U.S. Government funding.