Allan Represents UMass for Discussion on Expanding US-India Educational Partnerships

Associate Dean of Research and Engagement James Allan joined Vice Provost for Global Affairs Kalpen Trivedi to represent UMass Amherst as one of 17 U.S. college and university delegations selected to visit India to discuss exploring and expanding bilateral partnerships between the two countries at the Institute of International Education’s (IIE) Leadership Delegation from Feb. 25–March 2. 

Thirty-one provosts, vice provosts, deans and other leaders from U.S. higher education institutions attended the seven-day, three-city visit to India, meeting over 100 higher education leaders and senior officials from the U.S. and India. The event was part of the Center for International Partnership’s 2023-24 IIE Country Spotlight Series: India, which aims to support broader bi-national efforts to increase U.S.-India collaboration and student/scholar mobility in higher education.  

“Building strong education and research partnerships between the U.S. and India is in the vital interests of both nations,” says Trivedi. “Programs such as the Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technologies jointly funded by both countries present tremendous opportunities for collaborative work on the grand challenges confronting the planet, which can only be solved through working together.” 

More than 40% of India’s 1.4 billion population is under the age of 25, and demand for education exceeds in-country supply. Newly released data show record-high Indian student and scholar enrollment on U.S. campuses. More than 265,000 Indian students came to the United States to pursue higher education in the 2022–23 academic year, an all-time high for the world’s fifth-largest economy and now the most populous country. With more than 16,000 Indian scholars in the U.S. in 2022–23, the country is second only to China. 

For more information, visit the IIE website. 

This article was originally published by the UMass Amherst Office of News & Media Relations.