US exchange funding moving, but concerns remain

Organizations in the USA’s exchange sector have reported that funds have started to be paid in recent days after a government pause on payments, but concerns remain about the stability of future payments.

Earlier this month, StudyTravel Magazine reported on appeals by international education associations in the USA to restore funding for Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) study abroad, exchange and scholarship programs.

A 15-day freeze on payments was announced on February 12th, but no government action had been taken to lift the pause, leading to concern about the viability of some exchange programs and the welfare of current participants on placements overseas and in the USA.

This affected schemes including Fulbright, the Gilman Scholarship Program, the IDEAS Program and the Critical Language Scholarship Program. A consortium of associations said the freeze impacted on the lives of 12,500 Americans currently overseas and around 7,400 international students in the USA.

More than 24,000 letters were sent to congressional offices.

Mark Overmann, Executive Director of the Alliance for International Exchange, which represents more than 90 organizations involved in inbound and outbound exchange programs, advised StudyTravel Magazine that payments have now started to move.

“As of today, Alliance members report having received over 85 per cent of outstanding DOS payments that had been withheld due to the ongoing funding freeze,” he explained.

“The ‘15-day temporary payment pause’, as it was originally termed, has still not officially been lifted that we’re aware of, even though it’s been in place for nearly six weeks – but payments began trickling through to implementing organizations over the past 10-12 days, and really picked up steam this week. At the end of last week, Alliance members had seen around 25 per cent of payments come through. Over the past 48 hours, that number has shot up to around 85 per cent.”

Mark described the development as “incredibly encouraging process” and said that a new payment process within the State Department appears to be coalescing.

However, there are still concerns about the future of exchange and scholarship schemes from members of the Alliance.

“Despite this progress, challenges still remain. First, it’ll take implementing organizations some time to restabilize after the disruption of nearly two months without funding. And second, organizations need to have confidence that this new payment process will continue to work and that they can count on future funding,” Mark said.

The advocacy campaign to restore led by the Alliance for International Exchange, NAFSA Association of International Educators and the Forum on Education Abroad resulting in more than 24,000 letters sent to over 500 Congressional offices, which Mark described as “an incredible and unparalleled response”.