KU has taken the lead in education that President George W. Bush recently said was vital to strengthening national security in the future. Earlier this month, Bush announced the launch of the National Security Language Initiative, a plan to increase security and prosperity through education, namely foreign language training.

Bush will request $114 million in fiscal year 2007 to fund the initiative that will increase the number of Americans learning languages such as Chinese, Arabic, Russian, Hindi, Farsi and others.

The announcement was made the same day Chancellor Robert Hemenway was attending the U.S. State Department's University President's Summit in Washington, D.C. The summit, at which Bush spoke, focused on developing a plan to encourage students to study abroad, as well as encouraging more international students to study in U.S. universities.

KU has taken the initiative to further foreign language education, recently signing a memorandum of cooperation to explore establishing the United States' third Confucius Institute.

The institute would sponsor community-based Chinese language instruction, support training and development of Chinese language teachers and promote outreach programs on Chinese culture.

The university's work to send students to study abroad, as well as brining multicultural students to KU, is praised in the current issue of International Educator, a magazine specializing in educational exchanges between colleges in America and overseas. In an article titled "Home on the PrairieÉAnd Abroad," the magazine notes "KUÉsends more than 1,000 students to study abroad each year and enrolls 1,650 international students at Lawrence," and points out that one fourth of KU students spend part of their undergraduate education overseas.

The article states Kansas has the largest chapter of AIESEC, an international student organization that arranges internships worldwide.

Several departments at KU are highlighted for their commitment to internationalism. The school of engineering went from having no international activity in the late 1980s to sending 20 students a semester to study abroad in 2001. The School of Architecture and Urban Design is noted for sending 10 percent of its majors each year to locations such as Spinocchia, Italy; Berlin, Germany; and Barcelona and Madrid, Spain.

KU's longstanding partnership with the University of Costa Rica is noted as well.

"If you go to Costa Rica, a large percentage of the legislature and several past presidents actually have KU degrees," Elizabeth Anne Kuznesof, professor of history and director of Latin American Studies, is quoted as saying.