The US-ASEAN Business Council Institute (USABCI) launched the Myanmar Scholarship Fund at the opening of the inaugural US-Indo-Pacific Conference on April 5, 2022, in an effort to raise $6 million over the next three years to provide scholarships for U.S.-based Myanmar students whose education has been disrupted by the political and economic situation in Myanmar and are now facing financial difficulties in completing their degree programs.
USABCI has established a partnership with the Institute of International Education (IIE), a well-respected leader in international education, to administer and manage the issuance of the scholarships.
In the 2022-23 pilot year, the Scholarship will provide $5,000 merit scholarships to undergraduate and graduate students from Myanmar enrolled in U.S. higher education institutions. Scholarships may be used to defray academic costs required to achieve a degree, including tuition, fees, books, supplies, and equipment.
The scholarship fund was listed in a White House statement as a key education deliverable during the historic U.S.-ASEAN Special Summit in May 2022, and has been endorsed by the George W. Bush Presidential Center.
The Myanmar Scholarship Fund is made possible through the support of its founding Chair, the late Madeleine Albright, and its Patrons, former U.S. Ambassadors to Myanmar Derek Mitchell and Scot Marciel. The Fund has raised more than $1 million to date, with contributions from Chevron, Meta, The Asia Group, BowerGroupAsia, McLarty Associates and other friends of Myanmar, and the support of US-ABC, the US ICT Council for Myanmar and the Albright Stonebridge Group.
