The Cooperative Association of States for Scholarship (CASS) program is a partnership program under the umbrella of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Other partners include: the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico and Nicaragua, community-based educational institutions throughout the United States, including Modesto Junior College, and Georgetown University.

Congress has entrusted the Center for Intercultural Education and Development (CIED) at Georgetown University with tax dollars to administer CASS, thus all U.S. citizens are program partners. But CASS is much more than a scholarship program. The goal of the program is to prepare students to return home with personal, academic, and technical skills which will enable them to continue growing professionally, share the benefits of their training with others, and make positive contributions to the development of their countries. From the more than 5,000 CASS graduates who have already returned home, we know that these goals are being met.

In addition, CASS students come to the U.S. to learn about U.S. culture, values, lifestyles - that marvelous mix that at its best we call the "American way", and to build lasting links between our countries.

Modesto Junior College has been a participant in the CASS program since 1987 when MJC received its first group of students. The program at that time was called the Central American Scholarship Program (CASP); at that point in time, only countries of Central America were participating in the program. The program then expanded to include the countries of the Caribbean. Some of the fields of study that have been pursued at MJC include: Electronics, Fashion Merchandising, Graphics Technology, Food Production and Processing, Forestry, Food Processing/Science, Ag Science, Agriculture Business and the 1-Year Primary Teacher Training. In 2003, the CASS program included students from the country of Mexico for the first time.

Modesto Junior College at present has one group of CASS students who are pursuing a certificate in Agribusiness for Export. The Cycle 2008 Agribusiness for Export students are scheduled to conclude their studies at the end of June 2010. The group is composed of 21 students representing the El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, México and Nicaragua. This is the last group for the CASS program.

USAID has a new program that is similar to the CASS program called Scholarships for Education and Economic Development (SEED). The new program, that begins August 2009, will provide scholarships to participants from the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico and Nicaragua.