The funding is being made available through the Prime Minister’s Initiative for International Education. The launch of the Fund coincides with the release of figures, which show that the UK is once again the top destination for US students studying abroad and the US is still the top destination for UK students studying abroad.

Commenting on the launch of the Fund, Higher Education Minister David Lammy said:
“The UK and the USA have excellent higher education systems, and for many years students from both countries have benefited from the close working relationships that have developed between our two countries. These new partnerships, funded through the Prime Minister’s Initiative for International Education, will build on this and encourage even more links between universities and students across both our systems. The relationship between the UK and US is important, and we remain committed to that and to building on it for the future.”

The Fund is linked to extensive research carried out in cooperation with the US Institute of International Education earlier in the year on higher education partnerships between the UK and the US. There is a long history of collaboration between the UK and US on joint research initiatives across many disciplines, as well as an abundance of staff and student exchanges. There are currently more than 5,000 UK university staff with research links to the United States and more than 3,500 US research students currently working in the UK. Joint UK-US research projects currently underway include: exploring stem cell therapy for macular degeneration; conducting an extensive study of the Earth’s atmosphere; identifying materials that act as superconductors; and studying the role of sugar in cell-to-cell communication.

Sharon Memis, Director of British Council North America said:
”Education links are crucial for increasing long term cultural relations and this new initiative represents a continued investment into the development of transatlantic education partnerships.

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The British Council’s UK-US Universities and Colleges New Partnerships Fund is introduced as education partnerships receive a growing spotlight in US foreign policy. In recent weeks, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has emphasised education and higher education partnerships on her state visits. In Russia, Clinton remarked, “…Part of our approach in the Obama Administration is to reach out to form more partnerships with not just governments but people-to-people partnerships that we think are going to provide a strong foundation for our future cooperation.

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The UK is the top destination for American students who choose to study outside the country for a semester or year-abroad as well as full degree programmes.

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This year, the United Kingdom once again took the top spot, rising almost 2% with 33,333 Americans studying here in the 2007-2008 school year (14% of overall study abroad students). Conversely, the United States is perennially the top destination for British students who study outside the UK with 8,701 studying in the US during the 2008-09 academic year.