Marshall Islanders in the US State of Arkansas are to benefit from a dedicated new education centre.
The US Department of the Interior last week announced a $US217, 594 grant to support the Marshallese Education Initiative.
The initiative will focus on the Marshallese Resource and Educational Center in Springdale, home to the largest population of Marshall Islanders outside the republic.
The Center estimates that between 10-to-12-thousand Marshallese live in northwest Arkansas.
The initiative aims to lift the graduation rate of Marshallese students in Arkansas high schools which currently only just exceeds 50 percent.
US census figures from 2010 show over 75 percent are low-income families and 52 percent live in poverty, which is 15 percent above the national average.