IIE Launches Groundbreaking 10-year Alumni Tracking Study for the Ford Foundation International Fellowships Program

The Institute of International Education (IIE) has launched a groundbreaking 10-year, longitudinal study designed to explore and analyze the impact of the Ford Foundation International Fellowships Program (IFP) on its more than 4,300 alumni from 22 countries.  

The study offers a rare opportunity to explore over the long term how an innovative higher education program affected the lives of its beneficiaries and the communities in which they live and work, and to examine whether it shifted the picture of equity and access in developing countries and within underserved populations. 

"As governments everywhere search for ways to educate and tap the talent of more citizens, the International Fellowships Program offers practical, real-world lessons, especially in helping people from rural and marginalized communities find a place in higher education," said Darren Walker, president of the Ford Foundation. "This landmark study ensures that a body of knowledge and experience built over many years can continue to help open the door to higher education for millions of hard-working people throughout the world." 

For over a decade, the Ford Foundation International Fellowships Program, which was housed at IIE, enabled emerging social justice leaders from marginalized communities around the world to pursue advanced degrees at more than 600 universities in nearly 50 countries. IFP was initiated in 2001 with funding from the Ford Foundation through the single largest grant ($340 million) in the Foundation’s history. The study will be conducted by IIE’s Center for Academic Mobility Research.