Georgetown University signed a cooperative agreement with the exican government this summer that will provide fellowships for up to 40 Mexican doctoral students to study at Georgetown in the natural and social sciences.

The initiative also outlined intentions to develop an interdisciplinary doctoral program in the social sciences and probe the possibility of creating new forms of doctoral and masters programs for Mexican scholars.

The agreement, signed in June, is part of a larger strategic effort on the part of the university to develop closer ties with the Mexican government and the Mexican-American community.

“To make a reasonable forecast – in the next 20 years, Mexican-Americans and citizens of Mexico are going to be a desirable target for Georgetown,” Dennis Quinn, assistant provost for international development, said.

Following the 1994 integration of Mexican and U.S. commercial markets under the North American Free Trade Agreement, Quinn said that he foresees the integration of the education market as well.

With the heavy tendency toward Catholicism in Latin America, Georgetown should be a logical favorite among Mexicans seeking a higher education in the U.S., Sam Robfogel, the associate director of the Latin American Initiative, said.

Quinn also said that the global education community currently finds itself in a unique situation.

Having recently returned from a business trip in China on behalf of Georgetown, he discussed the educational system in countries like China and Mexico, where substantial investment has already been made toward improving elementary and secondary education.

“We’d love to take advantage of the tremendous transformation in China,” Quinn said.

As students progress through these established institutions, however, the quality of the infrastructure of higher education remains largely undeveloped. Outstanding Mexican high school students are not finding abundant university opportunities within their own countries, he said.

And universities in these middle-income nations are eagerly trying to increase both the capacity and the quality of their programs. Among the most economical methods of doing so is through joint initiatives with U.S. and European universities.

Georgetown is among the cadre of U.S. universities eager to collaborate.

“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity of American higher education,” Quinn said.

According to Quinn, NAFTA, Georgetown’s Jesuit tradition and the proximity of the U.S. to Mexico, are among the factors that make Mexico a logical starting place.

“There will be more students from more places coming to Georgetown and the university will be participating more in the training of the future leaders of more countries,” Robfogel said.

As far as other direct effects on the university, Quinn and Robfogel indicated that a closer relationship with the Mexican government could lead to a higher Mexican-American student population on campus.

The Mexican Council for Science and Technology (CONACYT) negotiated and will oversee the cooperative agreement.

“This agreement of cooperation reflects the interest and importance that Georgetown University gives to relations with our country in particular [Mexico] and with Latin America in general,” a statement released by CONACYT said. “Its end is to enrich international collaboration and to improve the human capital of Mexico.”

The June agreement is the most recent of several new programs.

In April the university signed an agreement with the School of Public Administration and Public Policy at the Instituto Tecnologico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey, commonly known as the Tec de Monterrey, in Monterrey, Mexico.

The two universities will collaborate on designing new aster’s programs in International Studies, Political Analysis and Media and International Law. Mexican students involved in the program, which began operating in June of this year, spent two weeks during the summer studying at Georgetown.

“We believe this agreement is the first step in an engagement with our American neighbors that will take us far beyond traditional `exchange student’ and `junior-year abroad’ programs,” university Provost Dr. James O’Donnell said at the signing of the agreement. “Even the Georgetown students and faculty who never visit Mexico will benefit from what we begin today.”

The university is also developing a new study abroad program for undergraduates that will foster integration with native students. Puebla, Mexico’s second largest city, located south of Mexico City, has been mentioned as a possible site, although the pilot for this program is at least a year away.