About the Author: Ann Stock serves as Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs.

Labor Day marks the unofficial end of summer in the United States. If they haven’t already done so, students all across our country are heading back to school this week. And for more than 270,000 of them, this school year will also be the start of a whole other adventure — studying abroad!

If you want to understand another country and its culture, institutions, and languages, there’s no substitute for living there, whether for a few weeks, a semester, a year, or longer. The friendships that these experiences foster are life-changing, and they form the basis of our country’s international relationships for years to come. Students with that experience are more confident and better prepared to engage globally. Studying abroad also enriches the campuses and communities around you.

In short, study abroad expands your world: new insights, places, and people… more »

About the Author: Ann Stock serves as Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs.

Olá from Washington, D.C.! We’re home again after a busy and exciting trip to Brasilia and São Paulo.

Tuesday was the first-annual meeting of the Open Government Partnership, whose member countries contain a quarter of the world’s population. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, President Rousseff of Brazil, President Kikwete of Tanzania, and Prime Minister Gilauri of Georgia all spoke on the impact that government transparency and openness can make on the global community. More than 800 representatives from over 60 countries and more than 200 civil society organizations were in attendance.

Later, I met with members of the Brazilian… more »

About the Author: Gillea Benitez serves as an intern in the Burea of East Asian and Pacific Affairs.

July ended on a high note at the Department of State, where Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton met hip-hop musician will.i.am of The Black Eyed Peas. During their meeting, Secretary Clinton highlighted the importance of educational and cultural ties between the United States and China, in particular, furthering the goals of President Obama’s 100,000 Strong Initiative to increase dramatically the number, and diversify the composition, of American students studying in China. 

As a summer intern working on the 100,000 Strong Initiative, I helped coordinate the Secretary’s meeting with will.i.am, as well as a video interview with will.i.am before an audience of nearly 100 at the State Department. In late June, the 100,000 Strong team first learned that will.i.am had… more »

About the Author: Mary Hantsch serves as a Consular Officer in the Office of American Citizens Services and Crisis Management.

While much of the country bakes under the August sun and most families are enjoying a final vacation before school starts this fall, over 225,000 young Americans are preparing to depart for Study Abroad programs around the world. The U.S. Department of State’s highest priority is the protection of U.S. citizens abroad. The safety and welfare of U.S. students studying and traveling overseas is a special concern to us, and it’s the reason for our efforts to inform and assist student travelers. 

How do we do this? Before students depart for exciting new locations, we encourage them and their college or university study abroad programs to check out a fantastic resource — our award-winning Students Abroad website. The site offers students and schools a friendly, easy to navigate travel toolkit. It’s… more »

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton delivered remarks at the inaugural meeting of the Advisory Committee for the 100,000 Strong Initiative on May 10, 2011. Secretary Clinton said the initiative is “an essential building block to a more solid foundation of a relationship going forward.” She said that despite the improvements in communication, there is still a lot to be learned between our two nations.

Secretary Clinton said, “…I was struck when we did the Shanghai Expo Pavilion, which when I became Secretary of State was not anywhere in any briefing book that I was given, and I have to confess I didn’t even know about it until I was in China in February of ‘09 on my very first trip at a very formal consultation with the foreign minister and other dignitaries… more »