Washington, DC, March 30, 2010 — AMIDEAST is pleased to announce the launch of a scholarship initiative that will enable more American college students to live and study in the Arab world. Beginning this summer, the new AMIDEAST Arab Heritage Fund Scholarship Program will provide a limited number of need-based scholarships for participants in AMIDEAST’s summer, semester, and academic-year study abroad programs in Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, and Morocco.

The new scholarships are made possible by funding from AMIDEAST’s Arab Heritage Fund, an endowment established by AMIDEAST to sustain and expand its activities that help American educators and students better understand the region. By significantly reducing fees for the programs, they will support the fund’s mission by enabling more Americans to benefit from a first-person experience in the Middle East and North Africa. 

AMIDEAST Education Abroad Programs in the Arab World began in 2007 as a semester program offered in Rabat, Morocco, in collaboration with Mohammed V University-Agdal. Today, programs are offered on a semester and academic year basis in Morocco, Jordan, Egypt, and Kuwait, and in the summer in Morocco and Jordan. Language study is a central component of the programs, which also include area studies courses designed to expand awareness of the country and region. In addition to receiving academic credit for their studies, students have opportunities for homestays, excursions, and activities that connect them with their host communities, providing an enriching academic and intercultural experience. To date, nearly 250 students from 89 colleges and universities across the United States have earned college credit through the program.  

“AMIDEAST is pleased to offer the Arab Heritage Fund scholarships,” said AMIDEAST President and CEO Theodore H. Kattouf.  “In an environment of rising tuitions and college costs, we feel that they will make a difference by enabling more young scholars to have the valuable experience of living and studying in the Arab world and expand their understanding of this important region.”