II 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3744 

To establish the Abraham Lincoln Study Abroad Program. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 26, 2006 

Mr. DURBIN (for himself and Mr. COLEMAN) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

A BILL 

To establish the Abraham Lincoln Study Abroad Program. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Abraham Lincoln 

5 Study Abroad Act of 2006’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find8 ings: 

9 (1) According to President George W. Bush, 

10 ‘‘America’s leadership and national security rest on 

11 our commitment to educate and prepare our youth 


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1 for active engagement in the international commu2 nity.’’. 

3 (2) According to former President William J. 

4 Clinton, ‘‘Today, the defense of United States inter5 ests, the effective management of global issues, and 

6 even an understanding of our Nation’s diversity re7 quire ever-greater contact with, and understanding 

8 of, people and cultures beyond our borders.’’. 

9 (3) Congress created the Commission on the 

10 Abraham Lincoln Study Abroad Fellowship Program 

11 in section 104(a) of Division H of the Consolidated 

12 Appropriations Act, 2004 (Public Law 108–199). 

13 Pursuant to its mandate, the Commission has sub14 mitted to Congress and the President a report of its 

15 recommendations for greatly expanding the oppor16 tunity for students at institutions of higher edu17 cation in the United States to study abroad, with 

18 special emphasis on studying in developing nations 

19 and nontraditional study abroad destinations. 

20 (4) Studies consistently show that United 

21 States students score below their counterparts in 

22 other advanced countries on indicators of inter23 national knowledge. This lack of global literacy is a 

24 national liability in an age of global trade and busi25 ness, global interdependence, and global terror. 


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1 (5) By numbers ranging from 77 to more than 

2 90 percent, Americans believe that it is important 

3 for their children to learn other languages, study 

4 abroad, attend a college where they can interact with 

5 international students, learn about other countries 

6 and cultures, and generally be prepared for the glob7 al age, according to a December 2005 national sur8 vey conducted by Lake Research Partners and the 

9 Tarrance Group. 

10 (6) In today’s world, it is more important than 

11 ever for the United States to be a responsible, con12 structive leader that other countries are willing to 

13 follow. Such leadership cannot be sustained without 

14 an informed citizenry with much more knowledge 

15 and awareness of the world than most Americans 

16 tend to possess. 

17 (7) Study abroad has proven to be a very effec18 tive means of imparting international and foreign19 language competency to students. 

20 (8) In the 2003–2004 academic year, an esti21 mated 16,910,000 students were enrolled in United 

22 States postsecondary institutions, yet only 191,321, 

23 representing approximately 1 percent of those stu24 dents, studied abroad for academic credit, according 

25 to the National Center for Education Statistics and 


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1 the Institute of International Education, respec2 tively. 

3 (9) Less than 10 percent of the students who 

4 graduate from United States institutions of higher 

5 education with bachelors degrees have studied 

6 abroad. 

7 (10) Far more study abroad must take place in 

8 the developing countries. Ninety-five percent of the 

9 world’s population growth is anticipated to occur 

10 outside of Europe in the future. Yet in the academic 

11 year 2003–2004, 61 percent of United States stu12 dents studying abroad studied in Europe, and 46 

13 percent studied in the 4 countries of the United 

14 Kingdom, Italy, Spain, and France, according to the 

15 Institute of International Education. 

16 (11) Study abroad helps to build mutual under17 standing among nations and serves to promote na18 tional leadership in the United States, international 

19 effectiveness, and economic competitiveness by help20 ing to create a globally literate citizenry. 

21 (12) The Senate designated 2006 as the Year 

22 of Study Abroad, raising awareness of the impor23 tance of study abroad. 

24 (13) To complement such worthwhile Federal 

25 programs as the Benjamin A. Gilman International 


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1 Scholarship Program and the National Security 

2 Education Program, a broad-based undergraduate 

3 study abroad program is needed that will democ4 ratize study abroad and make opportunities of study 

5 abroad accessible to all undergraduate students, re6 gardless of their field of study, ethnicity, socio-eco7 nomic status, or gender. 

8 (14) A majority of barriers to study abroad are 

9 due to institutional policies at the campus level, ac10 cording to a report of the Strategic Task Force on 

11 Education Abroad issued by NAFSA: Association of 

12 International Educators. 

13 (15) To make study abroad an integral part of 

14 undergraduate students’ education, regardless of 

15 field of study, ethnicity, socio-economic status, or 

16 gender, institutions of higher education should ad17 dress institutional barriers that stand in the way of 

18 study abroad. 

19 (16) According to the Institute of International 

20 Education, the percentages of African-American, 

21 Asian-American, and Hispanic-American students 

22 among individuals studying abroad are extremely low 

23 and underrepresentative of the numbers of those 

24 students in the general student population. 


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1 (17) The majority of students who study 

2 abroad are students in the social sciences, human3 ities, and foreign languages, while students who 

4 major in engineering, mathematics, computer 

5 science, or education are underrepresented in study 

6 abroad programs. Within the total enrolled United 

7 States undergraduate population, approximately 

8 10.7 percent of United States students majoring in 

9 business have studied abroad, 8 percent of United 

10 States students majoring in engineering have studied 

11 abroad, and 5.9 percent of United States students 

12 majoring in education have studied abroad. 

13 (18) Recognizing that the international scope of 

14 scientific research in United States institutions of 

15 higher education and government facilities is often 

16 conducted by foreign-born scientists, the effective17 ness of their work will be greatly enhanced by 

18 United States researchers who have similarly spent 

19 time studying abroad. 

20 (b) PURPOSE.—It is the purpose of this Act— 

21 (1) to encourage not less than 1,000,000 under22 graduate students in United States institutions of 

23 higher education to study abroad for academic credit 

24 within 10 years of the date of enactment of this Act; 

25 and 


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1 (2) to establish an Abraham Lincoln Study 

2 Abroad Program that— 

3 (A) reflects the demographics of the 

4 United States undergraduate population, in5 cluding undergraduate students in technical and 

6 scientific fields of study; 

7 (B) ensures an increasing portion of study 

8 abroad takes place in nontraditional study 

9 abroad destinations, with a substantial portion 

10 of such increases taking place in developing 

11 countries; and 

12 (C) is accessible by students at diverse 

13 types of institutions of higher education, includ14 ing 2-year institutions, minority-serving institu15 tions, and institutions that serve nontraditional 

16 students. 

17 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

18 In this Act: 

19 (1) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 

20 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 

21 meaning given the term in section 101(a) of the 

22 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a)). 

23 (2) MINORITY-SERVING INSTITUTION.—The 

24 term ‘‘minority-serving institution’’ means— 


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1 (A) a part B institution, as defined in sec2 tion 322 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 

3 (20 U.S.C. 1061); 

4 (B) a Hispanic-serving institution, as de5 fined in section 502(a) of such Act (20 U.S.C. 

6 1101a(a)); or 

7 (C) another school that traditionally serves 

8 a racial or ethnic minority, as determined by 

9 the Secretary after consultation with the Sec10 retary of Education. 

11 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

12 the Secretary of State. 

13 SEC. 4. ABRAHAM LINCOLN STUDY ABROAD PROGRAM. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary is authorized to es15 tablish and carry out an Abraham Lincoln Study Abroad 

16 Program to facilitate the participation of undergraduate 

17 students in study abroad for academic credit. The pro18 gram shall consist of the following: 

19 (1) FELLOWSHIPS FOR UNDERGRADUATE STU20 DENTS.— 

21 (A) FELLOWSHIPS.—From amounts made 

22 available under section 5(1), the Secretary shall 

23 award fellowships to undergraduate students to 

24 enable the students to study abroad for aca25 demic credit. 


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1 (B) DESIGNATION.—Fellowships awarded 

2 under this paragraph shall be known as ‘‘Lin3 coln Fellowships’’. 

4 (2) GRANTS TO INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDU5 CATION.— 

6 (A) IN GENERAL.—From amounts made 

7 available under section 5(2), the Secretary shall 

8 award grants to institutions of higher edu9 cation— 

10 (i) to enable the institutions of higher 

11 education to award fellowships to under12 graduate students to enable the students 

13 to study abroad for academic credit; and 

14 (ii) for the reform of academic pro15 grams and institutional policies that inhibit 

16 participation by students in study abroad. 

17 (B) DESIGNATION.—Grants awarded 

18 under this paragraph shall be known as ‘‘Lin19 coln Institutional Leverage Grants’’. 

20 (C) LIMITATION.—Each institution of 

21 higher education that receives a grant under 

22 this paragraph shall use not less than 85 per23 cent of the grant funds to award fellowships to 

24 students under subparagraph (A)(i). 


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1 (b) FELLOWSHIP AWARD RULES.—The Secretary 

2 shall ensure that— 

3 (1) fellowships awarded under subsections 

4 (a)(1)(A) and (a)(2)(A)(i) reflect the demographics 

5 of the United States undergraduate population; and 

6 (2) there is an annual increase in the number 

7 or percentage of fellowships awarded under sub8 sections (a)(1)(A) and (a)(2)(A)(i) for study abroad 

9 taking place in nontraditional study abroad destina10 tions, with a substantial portion of such increase 

11 taking place in developing countries. 

12 (c) PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTA13 TION.—The Secretary shall, to the extent practicable, con14 sult with nonprofit and private organizations with experi15 ence in programs involving study abroad for academic 

16 credit, in establishing and carrying out the Abraham Lin17 coln Study Abroad Program. 

18 (d) COORDINATION WITH OTHER FEDERAL STUDY

19 ABROAD ACTIVITIES.—The Secretary may integrate the 

20 activities assisted under this section with other under21 graduate study abroad activities supported by the Depart22 ment of State, the Department of Education, and the De23 partment of Defense. 


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1 SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

2 There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

3 this Act such sums as may be necessary for fiscal year 

4 2008 and for each of the 4 succeeding fiscal years, of 

5 which— 

6 (1) 25 percent of such sums shall be available 

7 to carry out section 4(a)(1) for each fiscal year; and 

8 (2) 75 percent of such sums shall be available 

9 to carry out section 4(a)(2) for each fiscal year. 

Æ 


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