35 Salvadorans receive scholarships
June 26, 2006

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SAN SALVADOR– With great enthusiasm, 35 Salvadorans received scholarships this morning from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Cooperative Association of States for Scholarships (CASS).  The CASS Scholarship Program is financed by the People and the Government of the United States of America, through USAID, and managed by Georgetown University.

The scholarship award ceremony was held at the Radisson Hotel and was attended by the U.S. Ambassador to El Salvador, H. Douglas Barclay; USAID Acting Director, Tully Cornick; El Salvador Director-General for Education, Carolina Ramirez; CASS Program National Coordinator, Jose Alfredo Bonilla; HIV/AIDS National Program Chief, Rodrigo Siman; Salvadoran Association of Former CASS Scholars Representative, Elmer Ventura; as well as new scholars and their relatives.

From a group of 400 applicants, 35 men and women were selected to receive scholarships to study at 11 U.S. community colleges.  Total investment for these 35 scholarships is US $980,000.  The two-year technical programs provide students with valuable technical and leadership training in key development fields such as HIV/AIDS prevention and outreach, electronics technology, water management, quality control, microcredit for finance managers, rural primary education for at-risk children, and integrated natural resource technology.   

CASS is a regional scholarship program that finances training of economically disadvantaged youth and rural professionals from Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean.  The program is currently active in Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Haiti, Dominican Republic, Mexico, and El Salvador.  This year, Salvadoran participants were selected from municipalities that are part of the country’s mild poverty group, as designated by the Social Investment Fund for Local Development (FISDL). 

Since 1985, 1,450 Salvadorans have benefited from USAID-financed scholarships, 602 of them through the CASS Scholarship Program.  Former CASS scholars work in a variety of institutions, businesses, and social organizations in their countries.  Investment for the scholarship programs exceeds US $57 million.