Federal

Advancing International and Foreign Language Education Act

Source: Congress.gov · 5,541 words in original text

What This Bill Does

This bill updates the federal program that supports international and foreign language education at colleges and universities. The bill creates new grants for research, innovation projects, and professional education programs that teach students global skills alongside their regular studies in business, science, technology, engineering, and other professional fields. --- ##

Who It Affects

- Colleges and universities - Graduate and undergraduate students - Faculty members in international studies and foreign language programs - Libraries and nonprofit educational organizations - Community colleges and minority-serving institutions (colleges that serve African American, Hispanic, Asian American, and Native American students) - U.S. Department of Education (the federal agency running these programs) - Employers who hire graduates with international skills --- ##

Key Provisions

- **Research and innovation grants support studies on U.S. international education capacity**, including surveys of foreign language courses, student enrollments, faculty numbers, and student participation in study abroad programs (Sec. 3) - **The Secretary of Education can award competitive grants to colleges, universities, libraries, and nonprofit organizations** for research and innovation projects focused on international and foreign language education (Sec. 3) - **Colleges receiving grants must provide matching funds**: the federal government pays no more than two-thirds of costs, and the institution must pay at least one-third (Sec. 3). The Secretary can waive this requirement for community colleges and minority-serving institutions that demonstrate financial need (Sec. 3) - **Professional education programs must combine foreign language training, international studies, and study abroad opportunities** into business, science, technology, engineering, health, law, and other professional degree programs (Sec. 5) - **The Secretary must create and maintain a public website** showcasing research results and best practices from funded programs, and publish a report every five years summarizing key findings (Sec. 3) --- ##

What Changes

If this bill becomes law: - Colleges can apply for new federal grants to conduct research on gaps in international education and foreign language teacher shortages - Graduate students can receive funding support for language study related to their area of specialization (Sec. 2) - Universities can use grants to create new programs combining professional fields like engineering or business with international skills and foreign language learning - The federal government will collect data on which foreign languages, world regions, and international specialties have shortages of qualified graduates - Community colleges and institutions primarily serving minority students will receive priority consideration for grant funding without having to match federal money as heavily as larger universities - Students in professional programs will have access to more study abroad opportunities and international internships - Federal programs that were duplicative or unfunded will be eliminated (Sec. 7) --- ##

Important Definitions

- **Heritage student**: A student born in the U.S. to immigrant parents or who immigrated at a young age, speaks English fluently but grew up speaking another language at home, and maintains connection to their family's original culture and language (Sec. 6) - **Community college**: A junior or community college as defined elsewhere in the Higher Education Act (Sec. 6) - **Minority-serving institution**: An eligible institution as defined in section 371(a) of the Higher Education Act—these are schools that primarily serve African American, Hispanic, Asian American, Native American, or Pacific Islander students (Sec. 6) - **Professional education and technical training**: A program at a college offering undergraduate, graduate, or post-graduate education in a professional or technical field the Secretary determines meets national need for global competency. Examples include business, science, technology, engineering, law, health, energy, environment, agriculture, transportation, or education (Sec. 5) --- ##

Effective Date

Not specified in bill text

II 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 239 To reauthorize title VI of the Higher Education Act of 1965 in order to improve and encourage innovation in international education, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES FEBRUARY 2, 2023 Mr. YOUNG (for himself and Ms. BALDWIN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Edu- cation, Labor, and Pensions A BILL To reauthorize title VI of the Higher Education Act of 1965 in order to improve and encourage innovation in international education, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Advancing Inter- 4 national and Foreign Language Education Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. GRADUATE AND UNDERGRADUATE LANGUAGE AND 6 AREA CENTERS AND PROGRAMS. 7 Section 602(b)(2)(B)(ii) of the Higher Education Act 8 of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1122(b)(2)(B)(ii)) is amended— 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:33 Feb 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S239.IS S239 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •S 239 IS (1) in subclause (III), by striking ‘‘or’’ at the 1 end; 2 (2) in subclause (IV), by striking the period 3 and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 4 (3) by adding at the end the following: 5 ‘‘(V) the beginning, intermediate, or 6 advanced study of a foreign language re- 7 lated to the graduate student’s area of spe- 8 cialization.’’. 9 SEC. 3. INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH AND INNOVATION. 10 Part A of title VI of the Higher Education Act of 11 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1121 et seq.) is amended— 12 (1) by striking sections 605 and 606 and insert- 13 ing the following: 14 ‘‘SEC. 605. INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH AND INNOVATION. 15 ‘‘(a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to 16 support international and foreign language education re- 17 search and innovation projects that encourage and con- 18 tribute to comprehensive and ongoing assessment and 19 strengthening of the United States capacity in inter- 20 national education, including program development, co- 21 ordination, delivery, and outcomes in order to meet na- 22 tional needs. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:33 Feb 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S239.IS S239 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •S 239 IS ‘‘(b) DEFINITION OF ELIGIBLE GRANT RECIPI- 1 ENT.—In this section, the term ‘eligible grant recipient’ 2 means the following: 3 ‘‘(1) An institution of higher education. 4 ‘‘(2) A public or private nonprofit library. 5 ‘‘(3) A nonprofit educational organization. 6 ‘‘(4) An entity that, as of the date of applica- 7 tion for a grant under this section— 8 ‘‘(A) has received a grant under this title 9 for a preceding year; or 10 ‘‘(B) is receiving a grant under this title. 11 ‘‘(5) A partnership or consortium of 2 or more 12 entities described in paragraphs (1) through (4). 13 ‘‘(c) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.— 14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—From amounts made avail- 15 able to carry out this section, the Secretary may— 16 ‘‘(A) conduct research and studies that 17 contribute to the purposes of this title, includ- 18 ing research to provide a systematic under- 19 standing of the United States international and 20 foreign language education capacity, structures, 21 and effectiveness in meeting growing demands 22 in the education, government, business, and 23 nonprofit sectors; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:33 Feb 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S239.IS S239 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •S 239 IS ‘‘(B) create innovative paradigms, or en- 1 hance or scale up proven strategies and prac- 2 tices, that address systemic challenges to devel- 3 oping and delivering international and foreign 4 language education resources and expertise— 5 ‘‘(i) for incorporating across edu- 6 cational disciplines and institutions; and 7 ‘‘(ii) for employers and other stake- 8 holders; and 9 ‘‘(C) develop and manage a national stand- 10 ardized database on the strengths, gaps, and 11 trends in the international and foreign language 12 education capacity of the United States, and 13 document the outcomes of programs funded 14 under this title every grant cycle. 15 ‘‘(2) METHOD OF IMPLEMENTATION.—The Sec- 16 retary may carry out the activities described in para- 17 graph (1) directly or through grants or contracts to 18 eligible grant recipients in accordance with sub- 19 section (d) or (e). 20 ‘‘(d) RESEARCH AND STUDY GRANTS.—For any fis- 21 cal year for which the Secretary carries out activities to 22 achieve the outcomes described in subsection (c)(1) 23 through research and study grants under this section, the 24 Secretary may award grants, on a competitive basis, to 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:33 Feb 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S239.IS S239 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5 •S 239 IS eligible entities to pay for the Federal share of research 1 and studies relating to the systematic development, collec- 2 tion, analysis, publication, and dissemination of data and 3 other information resources in a manner that is easily un- 4 derstandable and made publicly available, and that con- 5 tributes to achieving the purposes of this title. Such re- 6 search and studies may include any of the following: 7 ‘‘(1) Assessing and documenting international 8 and foreign language education capacity and supply, 9 such as— 10 ‘‘(A) studies and surveys to determine the 11 numbers of foreign language courses, programs, 12 and enrollments at all levels of education and in 13 all languages, including a determination of gaps 14 in those courses or programs determined to be 15 critical to the national interest; 16 ‘‘(B) studies and surveys of the number 17 and types of degrees or certificates awarded in 18 foreign language studies, area studies, global 19 studies, and international business and profes- 20 sional studies, including identification of gaps 21 in those areas of study determined critical to 22 the national interest; 23 ‘‘(C) studies and surveys, by language, de- 24 gree, and world area, of— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:33 Feb 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S239.IS S239 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 6 •S 239 IS ‘‘(i) the number of foreign language 1 studies, area studies, global studies, or 2 international studies faculty, including 3 international business faculty; and 4 ‘‘(ii) the number of foreign language 5 studies teachers in grades kindergarten 6 through grade 12; and 7 ‘‘(D) studies and surveys of the number of 8 undergraduate and graduate students engaging 9 in long- or short-term education abroad or in- 10 ternship abroad programs as part of their cur- 11 riculum, including the countries of destination. 12 ‘‘(2) Assessing the demands for international 13 and foreign language education, the outcomes of 14 international and foreign language education pro- 15 grams, and the alignment of such demand and out- 16 comes, such as— 17 ‘‘(A) studies, surveys, and research 18 symposia to determine— 19 ‘‘(i) the demand for increased or im- 20 proved instruction in foreign language 21 studies, area studies, global studies, or 22 other international fields; and 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:33 Feb 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S239.IS S239 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 7 •S 239 IS ‘‘(ii) the demand for employees with 1 such skills and knowledge in government, 2 education, and the private sector; 3 ‘‘(B) studies, surveys, and research 4 symposia to assess the employment or utiliza- 5 tion of graduates of programs supported under 6 this title by governmental, educational, and pri- 7 vate sector entities; and 8 ‘‘(C) studies, surveys, and research 9 symposia to assess standardized outcomes and 10 the effectiveness and benchmarking of programs 11 supported under this title. 12 ‘‘(3) The development and publication of spe- 13 cialized materials for use in foreign language stud- 14 ies, area studies, global studies, and other inter- 15 national studies, including in international business 16 and other professional education, as appropriate. 17 ‘‘(4) Studies and surveys that identify and doc- 18 ument systemic challenges and changes needed in 19 higher education and elementary school and sec- 20 ondary school systems to make international and 21 foreign language education available to all students 22 as part of the basic curriculum, which may in- 23 clude— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:33 Feb 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S239.IS S239 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 8 •S 239 IS ‘‘(A) challenges in current evaluation 1 standards; 2 ‘‘(B) program entrance and graduation re- 3 quirements; 4 ‘‘(C) program accreditation; 5 ‘‘(D) student postsecondary degree require- 6 ments; or 7 ‘‘(E) legal or workplace barriers for teach- 8 ers and faculty to education and research 9 abroad. 10 ‘‘(5) Studies and surveys that identify and doc- 11 ument, in underrepresented institutions of higher 12 education (including minority-serving institutions 13 and community colleges)— 14 ‘‘(A) systemic challenges and changes, in- 15 centives, and partnerships needed to inter- 16 nationalize educational programming in a com- 17 prehensive and sustainable way; and 18 ‘‘(B) short- and long-term outcomes of 19 successful internationalization strategies and 20 funding models. 21 ‘‘(6) Evaluation of the extent to which pro- 22 grams supported under this title reflect diverse per- 23 spectives and a wide range of views and generate de- 24 bate on world regions and international affairs, as 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:33 Feb 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S239.IS S239 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 9 •S 239 IS described in the application submitted by the eligible 1 recipient under subsection (f). 2 ‘‘(e) INNOVATION PROJECT GRANTS AUTHORIZED.— 3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For any fiscal year for 4 which the Secretary carries out activities to achieve 5 the outcomes described in subsection (c)(1) through 6 innovation grants under this subsection, the Sec- 7 retary shall award such grants, on a competitive 8 basis, to eligible entities. 9 ‘‘(2) TYPES OF INNOVATION PROJECTS.—Inno- 10 vation projects carried out under this subsection 11 may include any of the following: 12 ‘‘(A) Innovative paradigms to improve 13 communication, sharing, and delivery of re- 14 sources that further the objectives of this title, 15 such as— 16 ‘‘(i) networking and placement struc- 17 tures and systems to more effectively 18 match postsecondary graduates with inter- 19 national and foreign language education 20 skills with the needs of employers across 21 the workforce; 22 ‘‘(ii) sharing international specialist 23 expertise across institutions of higher edu- 24 cation or in the workforce to pursue spe- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:33 Feb 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S239.IS S239 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 10 •S 239 IS cialization or learning opportunities not 1 available at any single institution of higher 2 education, such as shared courses for 3 studying— 4 ‘‘(I) less commonly taught lan- 5 guages, world areas, or regions; 6 ‘‘(II) international business; or 7 ‘‘(III) specialized research topics 8 of national strategic interest; 9 ‘‘(iii) producing, collecting, organizing, 10 preserving, and widely disseminating inter- 11 national and foreign language education 12 expertise, resources, courses, and other in- 13 formation through the use of electronic 14 technologies and other networking tech- 15 niques that contribute to the purposes of 16 this title; 17 ‘‘(iv) coordinating initiatives to iden- 18 tify, implement, and provide ongoing ac- 19 cess to and creation of digital global li- 20 brary resources; and 21 ‘‘(v) utilizing technology to create 22 open source resources in international 23 studies, area studies, global studies, and 24 foreign language studies that— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:33 Feb 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S239.IS S239 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 11 •S 239 IS ‘‘(I) are adaptable to multiple 1 educational settings; and 2 ‘‘(II) promote interdisciplinary 3 partnerships between technologists, 4 curriculum designers, international 5 and foreign language education ex- 6 perts, language teachers, and librar- 7 ians. 8 ‘‘(B) Innovative curriculum, teaching, and 9 learning paradigms that further the purposes of 10 this title, such as— 11 ‘‘(i) new paradigms for collaborations 12 of disciplinary programs with foreign lan- 13 guage studies, area studies, global studies, 14 and international studies, and education 15 abroad programs, that address the inter- 16 nationalization of such disciplinary studies 17 for the purpose of producing globally com- 18 petent graduates in their fields; 19 ‘‘(ii) innovative collaborations between 20 established centers of international and 21 foreign language education excellence and 22 underrepresented institutions and popu- 23 lations seeking to further their goals for 24 strengthening international, area, global, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:33 Feb 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S239.IS S239 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 12 •S 239 IS and foreign language studies, including mi- 1 nority-serving institutions and community 2 colleges; 3 ‘‘(iii) teaching and learning collabora- 4 tions among foreign language studies, area 5 studies, global studies, or other inter- 6 national studies programs with diaspora 7 communities, including heritage students; 8 and 9 ‘‘(iv) new approaches and methods to 10 teaching emerging global issues, cross-re- 11 gional interactions, and underrepresented 12 regions or countries, such as project- and 13 team-based learning. 14 ‘‘(C) Innovative assessment and outcome 15 tools and techniques that further the purposes 16 of this title, such as— 17 ‘‘(i) international and foreign lan- 18 guage education assessment techniques 19 that are coupled with outcome-focused 20 training modules and that meet the pur- 21 poses of this title, such as certificates and 22 badges, immersion learning, or e-portfolio 23 systems; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:33 Feb 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S239.IS S239 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 13 •S 239 IS ‘‘(ii) more effective and easily acces- 1 sible methods of assessing professionally 2 useful levels of proficiency in foreign lan- 3 guages, or competencies in area studies, 4 culture and global knowledge, or other 5 international fields in programs supported 6 under this title, which may include use of 7 [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]

Important: This plain English summary was generated by AI and is provided for informational purposes only. It is not legal advice. Always consult the official bill text on Congress.gov or a qualified attorney for legal matters.