WASHINGTON, DC - Higher Education for Development (HED) and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) announced today that an additional 13 partnerships will be funded through the Africa-U.S. Higher Education Initiative Planning Grant Competition.

Funding was originally proposed and awarded for 20 partnerships in April 2009 (a complete list of winning partnerships is available at www.hedprogram.org). However, the competition drew such a high level of interest, with nearly 300 applications submitted, that USAID decided to award funding to 13 additional applications. Partnerships, comprised of one U.S. and one African higher education institution, will each receive $50,000 grants from USAID to develop plans to address regional and national economic development priorities including such as engineering, health, agriculture, environment and natural resources, science and technology, education and teacher training/preparation, and business, management, and economics.

"We are extremely pleased to fund these additional 13 partnerships," said Alonzo Fulgham, Acting Administrator of USAID. "With the addition of these 13, we now have a total of six historically black colleges and universities in the initiative and a number of well-respected, top-ranked academic institutions in the United States and throughout Africa. The expertise and experience delivered by these institutions will have a critical impact as this effort moves forward."

The following are the new 13 winning partnerships:

HED manages the competition which grew out of the Africa-U.S. Higher Education Initiative (www.aplu.org), a collaborative effort between a number of higher education associations and other organizations, led by the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (A?P?L?U), formerly the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges (NASULGC).

"We are highly enthusiastic about the expansion of this effort," said Dr. Tully Cornick, executive director of HED. "We were so impressed with the quality and caliber of the applicant pool; it was a difficult peer review process to whittle down a final list of winners. By funding these additional 13 partnerships, we recognize that even greater expertise, knowledge and connections will be brought to bear to address a variety of critical development needs."

"Africa has an urgent need to strengthen institutions that cultivate human and research capacity." said Peter McPherson, president of A?P?L?U. "Working together in partnership, African and U.S. higher education institutions have the ability to increase the quality and access to education, and help solve local problems. The partnerships that will be created through this initiative have the potential to make a difference in the future of the African continent."

HED, funded by a cooperative agreement with USAID, was founded by the six major U.S. higher education associations to engage U.S. colleges and universities in international development. For more information about HED and to view details about the planning grants competition (including a complete list of the winning institutions), visit www.HEDprogram.org.

The American people, through the U.S. Agency for International Development, have provided economic and humanitarian assistance worldwide for nearly 50 years. For more information on USAID, visit www.USAID.gov.