International student exchange and scholarship programs are effective ways of opening the doors to new education opportunities and can help build bridges of understanding among students from a diversity of countries. However, this potential is not exploited to the full. In particular, exchanges between North and South are still limited, with few students from the developing world taking up study programs in Europe and the US and even fewer students from the North studying in Africa, the Middle East and Asia.

In close collaboration with student exchange programs administrators and education officials in the US, the EU and the OIC, the Alliance of Civilizations intends to develop a dialogue on expanding exchange programs in order to increase the number of students benefiting from opportunities to study abroad. Building on successful programs such as Erasmus (EU), Fulbright (US) and Chevening (UK), the objective is to increase the flow of students through exchange and scholarship programs.

The Alliance intends to launch a discussion among administrators of major exchange and scholarship programs, education officials and representatives of international organizations in the Spring of 2008.