22 U.S.C. § 4703 — Scholarship program authority

Page 1604 TITLE 22—FOREIGN RELATIONS AND INTERCOURSE § 4703 1 See References in Text note below. (5) it is essential that the United States citi- zenry develop its knowledge and under- standing of the developing countries and their languages, cultures, and socioeconomic com- position as these areas assume an ever larger role in the world community; (6) an undergraduate scholarship program for students of limited financial means from developing countries to study in the United States would complement current assistance efforts in the areas of advanced education and training of people of developing countries in such disciplines as are required for planning and implementation of public and private de- velopment activities; (7) the National Bipartisan Commission on Central America has recommended a program of 10,000 United States Government-sponsored scholarships to bring Central American stu- dents to the United States, which program would involve careful targeting to encourage participation by young people from all social and economic classes, would maintain existing admission standards by providing intensive English and other training, and would encour- age graduates to return to their home coun- tries after completing their education; and (8) it is also in the interest of the United States, as well as peaceful cooperation in the Western Hemisphere, that particular attention be given to the students of the Caribbean re- gion. (Pub. L. 99–93, title VI, § 602, Aug. 16, 1985, 99 Stat. 439; Pub. L. 103–199, title III, § 305, Dec. 17, 1993, 107 Stat. 2324.) Editorial Notes AMENDMENTS 1993—Pars. (6) to (10). Pub. L. 103–199 redesignated pars. (8) to (10) as (6) to (8), respectively, and struck out former pars. (6) and (7) which read as follows: ‘‘(6) the number of United States Government-spon- sored scholarships for students in developing countries has been exceeded as much as twelve times in a given year by the number of scholarships offered by Soviet- bloc governments to students in developing countries, and this disparity entails the serious long-run cost of having so many of the potential future leaders of the developing world educated in Soviet-bloc countries; ‘‘(7) from 1972 through 1982 the Soviet Union and Eastern European governments collectively increased their education exchange programs to Latin America and the Caribbean by 205 percent while those of the United States declined by 52 percent;’’. § 4703. Scholarship program authority (a) In general The President, acting through the United States Information Agency, shall provide schol- arships (including partial assistance) for under- graduate study at United States institutions of higher education by citizens and nationals of de- veloping countries who have completed their secondary education and who would not other- wise have an opportunity to study in the United States due to financial limitations. (b) Form of scholarship; forgiveness of loan re- payment To encourage students to use their training in their countries of origin, each scholarship pur- suant to this section shall be in the form of a loan with all repayment to be forgiven upon the student’s prompt return to his or her country of origin for a period which is at least one year longer than the period spent studying in the United States. If the student is granted asylum in the United States pursuant to section 1158 of title 8 or is admitted to the United States as a refugee pursuant to section 1157 of title 8, half of the repayment shall be forgiven. (c) Consultation Before allocating any of the funds made avail- able to carry out this chapter, the President shall consult with United States institutions of higher education, educational exchange organi- zations, United States missions in developing countries, and the governments of participating countries on how to implement the guidelines specified in section 4704 of this title. (d) ‘‘Institution of higher education’’ defined For purposes of this chapter, the term ‘‘insti- tution of higher education’’ has the same mean- ing as given to such term by section 1001 of title 20. (Pub. L. 99–93, title VI, § 603, Aug. 16, 1985, 99 Stat. 440; Pub. L. 105–244, title I, § 102(a)(7)(D), Oct. 7, 1998, 112 Stat. 1619.) Editorial Notes AMENDMENTS 1998—Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 105–244 substituted ‘‘section 1001’’ for ‘‘section 1141(a)’’. Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries EFFECTIVE DATE OF 1998 AMENDMENT Amendment by Pub. L. 105–244 effective Oct. 1, 1998, except as otherwise provided in Pub. L. 105–244, see sec- tion 3 of Pub. L. 105–244, set out as a note under section 1001 of Title 20, Education. TRANSFER OF FUNCTIONS United States Information Agency (other than Broad- casting Board of Governors and International Broad- casting Bureau) abolished and functions transferred to Secretary of State, see sections 6531 and 6532 of this title. § 4704. Guidelines The scholarship program under this chapter shall be carried out in accordance with the fol- lowing guidelines: (1) Consistent with section 2460(b) 1 of this title, all programs created pursuant to this chapter shall be nonpolitical and balanced, and shall be administered in keeping with the highest standards of academic integrity. (2) United States missions shall design ways to identify promising students who are in sec- ondary educational institutions, or who have completed their secondary education, for study in the United States. In carrying out this paragraph, the United States mission in a country shall consult with Peace Corps volun- teers and staff assigned to that country and with private and voluntary organizations with a proven record of providing development as- sistance to developing countries.