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EDUCATION
The U.S. and Mexico have a long history of close educational
ties. Many of Mexico’s top political, economic and academic
leaders have studied in the United States, some on U.S. government-provided
scholarships. Many thousands of Americans have similarly studied
in Mexico.
The Mexico-U.S. Commission for Educational and Cultural Exchange
(COMEXUS) oversees the Fulbright-Garcia Robles Scholarship
Program. Established by a bilateral treaty in 1990,
“Fulbright-Garcia Robles” is the flagship program in U.S.-Mexico
academic exchanges. Both countries directly contribute a combined
total of over $3.5 million dollars a year to the program.
In 2007, over 300 Mexicans and Americans participated in COMEXUS
exchange programs at leading Mexican and American universities.
The Institute of International Education (IIE)
maintains 13 student advising offices throughout Mexico that
provide student advising and testing services for Mexicans
who plan university level studies in the United States. Nearly
14,000 Mexican students are enrolled in universities across
the U.S.
A Regional English Teaching Office of the
U.S. State Department, based in Mexico City, provides extensive
training programs in English language teaching to Mexican
teacher trainers at all education levels – primary, secondary
and tertiary – throughout Mexico. The program focuses on training
Mexican teachers in public school systems in several Mexican
states, including Jalisco, Nuevo Leon, Chiapas, Hidalgo and
Guanajuato.
The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) supports
the Training, Internships, Exchanges and Scholarships
(TIES) program to promote partnerships and linkages
between U.S. and Mexican universities to address development
issues, such as access to micro-finance, watershed management
and border health. Currently there are 60 university partnerships
in the TIES program. USAID also funds one and two year technical
training programs in the U.S. for disadvantaged rural indigenous
teachers and for Mexican youth, respectively. Teachers and
youth return to their communities to implement skills gained
and lead community projects.
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