For Immediate Release

Contact: Anthony Twyman
Public Relations Coordinator
Community College of Philadelphia
Office: (215) 751-8082
atwyman@ccp.edu

COMMUNITY COLLEGE OF PHILADELPHIA'S PRESIDENT ONE OF 12 NATIONALLY SELECTED TO ACCOMPANY U.S. SECRETARY OF EDUCATION MARGARET SPELLINGS TO ASIA

PHILADELPHIA, PA, November 8, 2006- Stephen M. Curtis, Ph.D., president of Community College of Philadelphia, will accompany U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings and 11 other college and university presidents to Asia from Nov.10 to Nov. 18 to promote U.S. higher education opportunities.

It is the first official, high level delegation of college and university presidents to be assembled by the U.S. government for an overseas trip to promote U.S. higher education.

Co-sponsored by the U.S. Departments of State and Education, the trip will include visits to Japan, Korea and China - three nations that are among the countries that send the most students to the United States. The delegation will meet with media, students and university, government and business leaders. The presidents will serve as "ambassadors for U.S. higher education as a whole, rather than representing their individual institutions," said Spellings, who will lead the trip along with Assistant Secretary of State Dina Habib Powell.

"I am honored to have been selected to participate in this important initiative that will highlight the myriad of higher education opportunities available in the United States," President Curtis said.

The 12 presidents were selected because of their leadership roles in higher education and because their institutions collectively represent a cross section of the diversity and richness of educational opportunities in the United States.

This is the first in a series of high level delegations of college and university presidents that will be led by senior U.S. government officials to key world regions to promote the value of U.S. higher education overseas. This historic pairing of U.S. government and higher education leaders follows from a commitment made at the U.S. University Presidents Summit on International Education that was co-hosted by Spellings and U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in January 2006 in Washington, D.C.

Community College of Philadelphia has actively sought to promote its more than 70 career and transfer educational programs to international students. The College is an Asian Studies Regional Center affiliated with the Asian Studies Development Program of the East-West Center and the University of Hawaii. Through this program, many of the College's faculty members have participated in faculty exchange programs with Japan, Korea and China.

The College's international recruitment coordinator visited Thailand, South Korea, China and Vietnam from Oct. 4 to Oct. 21, as part of a trip hosted by the American Association of Community Colleges to promote U.S. higher education opportunities.

The College currently has 156 international students from 60 countries, including 9 students from Japan, 21 students from South Korea and 7 students from China.

According to the U.S. State Department, more than 325,000 Asian students studied in the United States in the 2004/2005 academic year, the equivalent of 58 percent of all international students. Of those students, 62,523 were from China, 53,358 were from South Korea and 42,215 were from Japan.

International students and their dependents contribute nearly $14 billion to the U.S. economy each academic year, according to the State Department. They also share their experiences about the institution they attend with colleagues and friends back home and can serve as valuable friends and allies in the future.

In addition to Community College of Philadelphia, the other institutions sending their presidents to Asia include: Indiana, Johns Hopkins, Ohio State, Tulsa, Seattle Pacific, Florida and Rice universities. Presidents from Piedmont Community College, the University at Buffalo (SUNY), the University of California at Santa Barbara and Renssealer Polytechnic Institute also are participating.

"In our ever-flattening world, international education and exchange is more important than ever," Secretary Spellings said. "We want the international community to know that our doors are open to the many foreign students who seek the benefits our higher education system has to offer."