§4704 Guidelines

Summary

Run the scholarship program using these rules. Programs must be nonpolitical, balanced, and kept to high academic standards, consistent with section 2460(b). U.S. missions must find promising secondary students or recent graduates for study in the United States, after consulting Peace Corps volunteers and trusted development NGOs. Missions must set and strictly use economic-need rules so only those who qualify get scholarships. The program must use schools in the U.S. and in the students’ countries to teach English and other needed skills. Pick students for academic and leadership promise and for the country’s development needs, decided by the U.S. mission with the host government. Scholarships should emphasize fields critical to development, including agriculture; civil engineering; communications; social science; education; public and business administration; health and nutrition; environmental studies; population and family planning; and energy. The program must be flexible about types of U.S. schools and years of undergraduate study, but no one may be brought to the U.S. for less than one year. Provide money for books and enrichment activities. Give equal opportunities to males and females as much as possible. For college or university study, the U.S. Information Agency should recommend a course on classic American political ideas.