The University of Illinois has received the unusual distinction of having all seven of its international regional studies programs named as National Resource Centers (NRC's) by the U.S. Department of Education. Five of those centers are in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.
Competition for the NRC grants is intense because only 142 centers were funded nationally. With all seven U. of I. centers gaining NRC status, only two other universities in the country had more. The grants are a primary funding source for the units receiving them and are used for a wide range of purposes, including teacher training, promoting undergraduate foreign language learning, initiating new courses, and implementing innovative international programming.
In addition to the NRC grants, each center will receive funding under the Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) program. Those funds will provide fellowships for graduate and professional students working on projects that include a significant foreign-language component.
The five College of LAS centers that received NRC and FLAS funding are:
- Center for African Studies: $966,436 from NRC plus $1,210,000 from FLAS
- Center for East Asian and Pacific Studies: $921,576 from NRC plus $752,000 from FLAS
- Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies: $911,624 from NRC plus $1,452,000 from FLAS
- Program in South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies: $700,220 from NRC plus $700,000 from FLAS
- Russian East European and Eurasian Center: $893,192 from NRC plus $886,000 from FLAS
The two international centers not in LAS, which also were recognized, are the European Union Center and the Center for Global Studies.
