Posted on November 6, 2006
New York, NY — The Starr Foundation has awarded a $5 million grant to Carleton College to support the school’s “Asia in Comparative Perspective” program. The grant will be paid over a five-year period and will be used to fund scholarships as well as program needs. This is the third time The Starr Foundation has given Carleton College a grant for this program; in 1999 and 2001 the Foundation awarded the College $5 million for the same initiative, bringing their total support to $15 million.
Now in its sixth year, the “Asia in Comparative Perspective” program encourages comparative study of cultures and prepares Asian and American students to live and work in an increasingly global society. With the support of The Starr Foundation, 31 Starr scholars will study at Carleton this year, coming to Northfield from Bangladesh, China, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Myanmar/Burma, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Tibet and Vietnam. The Starr Foundation funding also supports academic programs and leadership initiatives.
The grant has helped, among other things, to increase the number of international students enrolled at Carleton. In 1996 there were 16; for the 2006-07 school year 111 international students will be enrolled at Carleton.
Carleton Board of Trustees chairman Michael Armacost says, “The Starr Foundation’s grant provides marvelous and timely assistance to support top-notch Asian students and further internationalize the educational experience offered by Carleton College.”
Says Carleton College President Robert A. Oden Jr., “The willingness of the Foundation to support our initiative so generously is a wonderful endorsement of a decade of creative and important work.”
Ranked among the nation’s top liberal arts institutions, Carleton is a private, co-educational college of 1,900 students located 40 miles south of Minneapolis and St. Paul. High academic standards, an excellent teaching faculty and a diverse student body contribute to Carleton’s outstanding reputation.
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