Northern Virginia Community College (NOVA) is leading a consortium of U.S. colleges in an innovative partnership with the Brazilian government.

Under NOVA’s leadership, the Community College Consortium (CCC) will help the Brazilian Ministry of Education expand the reach of its Science Without Borders initiative. The program will offer one-year undergraduate scholarships for Brazilian students to study STEM concentrations (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) at U.S. community colleges. Initial CCC institutions include NOVA, City College of San Francisco, Maricopa Community College District and Miami Dade College.

Brazil’s Science Without Borders program aims to boost Brazilian science, technology, innovation and competitiveness through the expansion of its students’ international mobility. The national initiative is funding more than 100,000 scholarships for undergraduate and graduate students at colleges and universities worldwide. The CCC program will be the first to serve the community college equivalent sector of Brazilian higher education.

At the Brazil-U.S. Partnership for the 21st Century summit in Washington, D.C., in April 2012, NOVA signed a memorandum of understanding to support the Brazilian educational initiative. Following further intensive negotiations, a plan was developed for the CCC institutions to host 400 Brazilian students, with the first cohort set to arrive in fall 2013.

By: Contributing Author

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