FIPSE programs represent a first-of-a-kind collaboration among the US Department of Education and foreign government agencies to fund and coordinate federal education grant programs. These innovative programs foster student exchanges within the context of multilateral curricular development, enabling students to "internationalize" their studies through curricular innovation and study abroad.

Over the past five years, the EC-US Program and the North American Program have involved over 600 institutions in Europe and North America. Through funding from FIPSE and its foreign government counterparts, these programs have helped over 2000 students study in their discipline and profession in another country, often in a foreign language. Many more students have been impacted by the changes to the curricula at their home institutions that has come about through collaboration among the participating institutions.