Three international centers at Michigan State University were each awarded two prestigious U.S. Department of Education grants, earning the centers National Resource Centers (NRC) designations and funding totally more than $5.7 million over the next four years.

The announcements in the latest Title VI NRC grant cycle competition have awarded NRC status for MSU's African Studies Center, Asian Studies Center, and the partnership between the Center for Advanced Study of International Development (CASID) and Center for Gender in a Global Context (Gen Cen).

The NRC program provides grants to institutions of higher education to establish, strengthen, and operate comprehensive and language and area studies centers. Funded institutions are expected to function as national resource centers for research, teaching and outreach.

Jeffrey Riedinger, dean of MSU International Studies and Programs, views the high level of Title VI funding MSU receives and the number of funded centers as a testament to the strength of MSU's internationally engaged faculty.

A related program, administered by the same U.S.ED office, is the Foreign Language and Area Studies Program, which provides funding for undergraduate and graduate student support for foreign language acquisition. MSU's African Studies Center, Asian Studies Center, and CASID/Gen Cen received support for fellowships for each academic year and intensive summer language study programs.

"This funding level will allow the three centers to continue many successful programs while launching exciting new initiatives across campus," said Riedinger.

These centers are responsible for supporting a variety of programs that continue to internationalize the student experience at MSU, encourage foreign language study and the development of area study resources for the community. Funding is used to support library acquisitions, curriculum development for undergraduate and graduate studies, outreach to K-12 schools and community colleges and program development for community educational events and symposiums.

"On behalf of the faculty, students and community who benefit from our international programming, I would like to thank everyone who contributed to our Title VI and FLAS proposals, especially the staff members of our area studies centers," said Jeffrey Riedinger, dean of International Studies and Programs.

MSU currently has five international centers, which receive funding from Title VI programs. In addition to the three centers mentioned above, MSU's Center for International Business Education and Research (CIBER) was awarded funding as a national resource center in international business education , and the Center for Language Education and Research (CLEAR) was awarded funding and is designated as a Language Resource Center.