LASPAUAcademic and Professional Programs for the Americas | Affiliated with Harvard University

Investing in the Future Strengthening Higher Education in Latin America and the Caribbean

who we areLASPAU: Academic and Professional Programs for the Americas is a nonprofit organization affiliated with Harvard University and governed by an independent board of trustees. LASPAU began in 1964 as a cooperative enterprise between Harvard, the Ford Foundation and the Colombian student educational loan agency ICETEX. Today, LASPAU is the premier organization dedicated solely to advancing higher education in the Americas. As an affiliate of Harvard University, LASPAU has direct access to world class educators and researchers in every field, which we are able to draw on in the planning and implementation of our programs.

our visionLASPAU’s efforts are guided by the vision of social and economic development in Latin America and the Caribbean achieved through long-term investment in education. We see the ability of a society to empower its citizens through education and professional development as a necessity in today’s global context. A central tenet of our vision is that high quality academic preparation and training in the Americas should be available throughout society and not a reserve of privileged elites. LASPAU therefore gives special priority to regional, socio-economic and ethnic diversity in order to broaden opportunities for underserved populations.

our missionLASPAU designs and implements academic and professional programs to meet the complex social, political, and economic challenges facing the Americas. Our efforts are focused on institutional capacity-building and human resource development, principally through the design and management of international scholarship programs at the graduate level. Increasingly, our programs are focused on science and technology and the promotion of innovation in the region. Over the past 47 years, LASPAU has dedicated itself to faculty development in institutions of higher learning in the Americas with impressive results. Since 1964, the more than 20,000 academics, scientists and professionals that received grants or participated in programs administered by LASPAU have made enormous contributions to society.

what we doLASPAU’s work is concentrated in three main areas: scholarship program design and management, teaching and learning initiatives, and testing and assessment.

Scholarship ManagementLASPAU’s scholarship design and management activities are a fundamental part of our mission to enable individuals from Latin America and the Caribbean to achieve their full potential through higher education. Our services include development and implementation of scholarship programs with sponsoring organizations, program promotion,

LASPAU ‘s efforts are guided by the vision of social and economic development in Latin America and the Caribbean achieved through long-term investment in education.

recruitment, testing and assessment of candidates, and student placement, monitoring, mentoring and support. LASPAU maintains an active network of over 200 institutions in the United States alone which we collaborate with to seek placement and funding opportunities for grantees in the programs we manage. In 2010, LASPAU managed the scholarships of over 1,200 grantees and placed 144 new grantees in leading U.S. institutions and 89 in top institutions of higher learning in Australia, Canada, Latin America and in 10 countries across Europe. Our staff currently monitors grantees in academic programs in 35 countries worldwide and has the ability to communicate with students in their native languages: English, Spanish, Portuguese, and French.

LASPAU has a strong commitment to providing personalized service to grantees and sponsors while ensuring the cost-

effectiveness of the scholarship programs we manage. Our exceptional ability to arrange tuition waivers and reductions of other costs translates into significant savings for the sponsoring organizations whose programs we manage, allowing them to broaden the reach of their activities. Last year, LASPAU arranged an average of $20,000 in financial awards for each grantee entering an academic program in the United States.

In 2010, LASPAU arranged an average of $20,000 in financial awards for each grantee entering an academic program in the United States.

“LASPAU has made an impressive contribution in promoting higher education in the Americas and in helping develop generations of leaders in academia, government, and the private sector.”

Felipe Larraín Bascuñán, Minister of Finance, Chile

Teaching and Learning InitiativesSince it was established in 2006, the Initiative for the Development of Academic Innovation (IDIA) has become a central part of LASPAU’s work in the area of institutional capacity-building. Through this initiative, LASPAU helps institutions of higher education in the region strengthen academic quality by connecting them to an extensive global network of knowledge, expertise and best practices in teaching and learning through seminars and on-site training. IDIA consults closely with participating faculty and university leaders to develop customized training programs based on a careful assessment of institutional goals and priorities. Testing and AssessmentLASPAU also offers the Prueba de Admisión a Estudios de Posgrado (PAEP), a standardized graduate aptitude exam in Spanish, as another component of its efforts to strengthen higher education in Latin America. Developed by the

Tecnológico de Monterrey and the College Board, the PAEP provides a transparent means for program sponsors and university administrators to assess the aptitude and skills of candidates for graduate study. LASPAU administers the exam for approximately 3,500 scholarship and graduate program applicants in the region each year.

LASPAU gives special priority to regional, socio-economic and ethnic diversity in order to broaden opportunities for underserved populations.

program sponsors LASPAU has facilitated scholarship and educational programs for a broad array of government agencies, universities, private foundations and international organizations throughout the Americas such as the Fulbright International Educational Exchange Program for the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the Organization of American States, the Inter-American Development Bank, and the World Bank. Our organization also has extensive experience managing scholarship programs for government agencies in the region including COLCIENCIAS (Colombia), Fundayacucho (Venezuela), SENESCYT (Ecuador) and FANTEL (El Salvador). In addition, LASPAU has designed and managed programs for foundations such as The Goldman Sachs Foundation and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.

www.laspau.harvard.eduLASPAU 25 Mount Auburn Street, Cambridge, MA 02138-6095

Tel. 617-495-5255 www.laspau.harvard.edu

LASPAU wishes to thank grantees from Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Panama, Paraguay and Trinidad and Tobago for the use of their photos in this publication.