22 Comparative & International Higher Education 4 (2012) Indonesia and United States Exchanges and Partnerships: A Brief Update Seth Matthew Fishman a,* a University of North Texas, USA There is increased demand worldwide for higher education to prepare students for the global economy. This feeling is evident in articles and other literature about institutional partnerships between two or more nations, new joint campuses and a variety of other ex- change programs, grant funding opportunities, and study abroad. Proponents of such endeavors cite nu- merous mutual benefits for the countries involved: in- creasing cultural understanding, economic gains, enhanced foreign policy, learning outcomes, and devel- oping international networks (Osfield and Terrell 2009). This article will briefly highlight the college student exchange relationship between the United States and Indonesia. In 2010, United States President Barack Obama an- nounced US$165 million in funding for Indonesian academic partnerships, faculty and student exchanges, and other initiatives to create a comprehensive partner- ship to improve Indonesian higher education (Fischer 2010). Research opportunities for US academics in- cluded increased access to a country with daily seismic activity and a diverse ecological environment, as well as further knowledge about the fourth most-populated country and largest Muslim population in the world (Fischer 2010). Indonesia is also interested in making significant improvements to its higher education sys- tem, including establishing up to 200 community col- leges by 2015 (Dessoff 2011). In a May 31, 2011 joint letter to the editor of the Chronicle of Higher Education, Dino Patti Djalal, Indo- nesian Ambassador to the United States, and Scot Mar- ciel, United States Ambassador to Indonesia, implored US higher education institutions to make Indonesia- America student exchanges a higher priority: We hope that as American colleges develop new student-recruiting strategies and contemplate part- nership opportunities, you will consider Indonesia and its large number of higher-education institu- tions as destinations for study-abroad programs and scholarly research. The ambassadors noted that Indonesia is the world’s third largest democracy, one of the largest economies in the world and an increasingly-visible leader in Asia. Despite these prospects, few American students have studied in Indonesia. Although Indonesia has a population of 240 million, the number of Indone- sians attending college is small. The Indonesian Minis- try of National Education’s Higher Education Long Term Strategy 2003-2010 report cited the need to con- tinue work on increasing college access, particularly in some regions of the country. The Institute for International Education’s (IIE) Open Doors Report 2011 was released in November. For over 50 years, the report has served as an important resource on international students studying in the Unit- ed States as well as American students studying abroad. In the 2010-2011 academic year, 6,942 Indonesian stu- dents studied in American higher education institutions, ranking #19 among countries sending students to study in the United States. (IIE 2011. Peak enrollment of In- donesian students was in 1997-1998, when over 15,000 students attended US higher education institutions. The Indonesia-America academic partnership hopes to re- turn those numbers to mid-1990 levels while doubling the number of American students studying in Indonesia. However, the number of American students study- ing in Indonesia is disproportionately small compared to other countries. While approximately 200 American students studied in Indonesian higher education institu- ____________________ *Corresponding author: Email: SethFishman@unt.edu ; Address: Higher Education Program. MGV-B. 1155 Union Circle #310829. Denton, TX, 76203-5017, USA.