Mescyt announces agreements with Harvard and MIT to elevate the excellence of international scholarships

SANTO DOMINGO – The Minister of Higher Education, Science and Technology (Mescyt), Rafael Santos Badía, revealed that the Dominican government has begun a new phase in its international scholarship policy after managing to “clear the country’s credit” with various foreign academic institutions. During an interview on the program Politikal, the official announced the signing of strategic agreements with some of the most prestigious universities in the world to guarantee high-quality training for Dominican students.

Santos Badía detailed that, for the next academic cycle, the Dominican Republic will have spots in globally renowned institutions. “Next year, finally, the country will have its students in the best universities,” the minister assured, specifically citing the Complutense University of Madrid and the University of Barcelona, an institution he highlighted for its 550 years of history.

Furthermore, the head of Mescyt confirmed that contracts are being formalized in the United States with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Harvard University. The central objective of these agreements is to optimize the use of public resources: “If we are going to invest the money that Dominicans pay in taxes, we are going to do it right so that the students learn quality careers,” he pointed out.

Debt settlement and new horizons

The minister explained that, before these new agreements, the country faced embarrassing situations due to outstanding debts with foreign universities, which affected the delivery of degrees and the stay of scholarship recipients. “There were universities that we were not paying, and the country cannot go through that embarrassment… we cleared the credit and secured the good universities,” the official stated.

Regarding the academic offer in Spain, the UNED (National Distance Education University) will also be incorporated, highlighted as the only public virtual university in that country.

Focus on national development

The new scholarship strategy seeks not only prestige, but relevance. Santos Badía reported that 70% of international scholarships are being awarded for degrees linked to national development, moving away from training programs he described as “of little importance” for the current labor market.

“What is the point of sending a young man for two years to learn how to read, for example, the Divine Comedy? … One must study careers, one must learn careers that serve development,” argued the minister. Likewise, he highlighted the inclusive nature of these calls, noting that 56% of the beneficiaries are women and that the program has managed to reach all provinces of the country.

With these new agreements, the Dominican State seeks not only to train its youth in the world’s most advanced think tanks, but also to ensure that such training translates into high-level jobs and a real return on investment for the national economy.