Cooperative agreement no. 520-0304-A-00-6289-00 with Universidad Rafael Landivar -- Altiplano higher education development

The program will provide scholarships to Mayan students seeking associate and bachelor degrees. URL will increase the number of indigenous students at its Quetzaltenango campus via promotional and outreach efforts and establishment of yearly recruitment/enrollment targets for indigenous students. URL will also strengthen and expand the programs, faculty, staff, library, laboratories, and workshops of the Quetzaltenango campus and establish a student development program, including counseling/guidance services, academic support, job placement, and student follow-up. Over a 7-year period, URL will graduate some 266 indigenous professionals with Bachelors degrees and 400 indigenous technicians with associate degrees; fields of study will include architecture, agronomy, law, economics, business administration, accounting, humanities, education, social work, communications, engineering, and political science. In addition, URL will: conduct five annual skills upgrading/social awareness seminars for a total of 200 participants, including ladino development technicans working in the altiplano; establish a fundraising program to support scholarships for indigenous and disadvantaged students; and establish a permanent research and dissemination program that will address linguistic, ethnic, and other sociocultural factors affecting social promotion of altiplano populations.