MDCP Award Project

EnglishUSA has officially kicked off its project “Promoting and Supporting English Language Study in the U.S.A” (PASELS-USA). The 3-year project, funded by the Department of Commerce Market Development Cooperator Program (MDCP) is intended to generate exports and support high quality U.S. jobs through funding and cooperation with several stakeholders worldwide. EnglishUSA’s initiatives will help increase the visibility of U.S.-based English language programs in targeted markets and highlight the importance of the industry within the larger field of international education and exports.

EnglishUSA’s cooperative agreement represents a significant investment in promoting U.S. IEPs, reducing trade barriers to student mobility, and increasing their enrollments. The project will contribute to rebuilding U.S. capacity to host language students; increasing the U.S. competitiveness in the global IEP industry (U.K., Canada, Australia, New Zealand); and, in turn, restoring jobs and creating new job opportunities for English language instructors and international education professionals.

EnglishUSA’s proposal for MDCP funding includes five complementary initiatives: (1) Enhanced Data Collection: Evaluating IEP Markets and Enrollments; (2) Regional Promotion: Increasing Awareness of US IEPs in South and Central America; (3) Partner Development: Supporting Educational Agents, Consultants, Advisors and their Collaborations with English Language Programs; (4) Virtual Connection Events: Linking IEPs with Regional Partners; (5) Outbound Trade Missions: Developing Partnerships with Agents, Advisors, Businesses, and Students.

Although each of these five initiatives could function on a stand-alone basis, they mutually reinforce one another and build both momentum and synergies that will fast-track new enrollments to U.S. IEPs through the establishment of new linkages with organizations in South and Central America. Becoming a market development cooperator will help jump-start the industry’s post-pandemic efforts, with an anticipated $4.9 million in export revenue generated through the agreement’s end in 2025.

Upcoming activities for the project include participating in the 2022 EducationUSA Forum in Costa Rica in November. EnglishUSA will be leading a panel with EducationUSA Advisers from Brazil and Colombia and a Commercial Specialist from Mexico. December brings the AIRC Conference and where EnglishUSA will be represented in a session with Board of Directors leadership as well as the ICEF Agent Workshop.