Lilongwe – The U.S. government, through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), is investing an additional $17 million (approximately 17.5 billion kwacha) over the next five years to bolster higher education in Malawi. USAID’s Transforming Higher Education Systems project, implemented by Michigan State University, will help more students enroll in and complete higher education in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. USAID and partners, through the project, will expand high-quality, market relevant university programs for students, and boost the ability of Malawian universities to advance innovation, productivity, and competitiveness of Malawian industry.
The new USAID project will partner with the Ministry of Education, three anchor universities (MZUNI, MUST, and LUANAR), and several other Malawian public and private colleges and universities. It will also engage the National Council for Higher Education and the Higher Education Students’ Grants and Loans Board to expand pathways to access higher education.
USAID’s Transforming Higher Education Systems project will strengthen student support systems, increase experiential learning opportunities, and engage private sector actors through increased internship opportunities and research innovation. Students from marginalized and vulnerable backgrounds throughout Malawi will benefit from the project, and universities’ research capacities and outputs will increase to match the ambitions of Malawi 2063.
Ambassador David Young said: “This latest partnership with the Ministry of Education is a systems-wide approach that will remove barriers for marginalized and vulnerable youth and support students to thrive in the higher education system. Our investments will foster an enabling environment that helps youth build their own successful futures.”
USAID forges partnerships between U.S. and Malawian universities to advance market-relevant areas of study for economic growth, especially in fields related to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. For more information about USAID’s progress and partnerships with Malawi in the education sector, visit https://www.usaid.gov/malawi/education.
###