Scholarship News

Washington, DC, United States (AHN) – Fifty Pakistani students are due to arrive in the United States in the first week of 2011 under an exchange program.

Deputy Assistant Secretary for Academic Programs Alina Romanowski announced their arrival during a conference call on Thursday. She said a special effort was made to select students who have never before traveled to the U.S.

The students are part of the Global Undergraduate Exchange Program in Pakistan (Global UGRAD-Pakistan). Global UGRAD-Pakistan students engage in one semester of non-degree study and are placed at more than 35 accredited two- and four-year higher education institutions in more than 25 states.

Romanowski noted that at least one course on American History, also termed an “American Studies Course,” must be pursued by the visiting students.

The students were not screened for any “terrorist mentality,” nor for “religious backgrounds,” Romanowski told journalists. All, however, had to go through the regular visa application screening process.

She said all of the students would return home at the end of the course.

The Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, in coordination with partner organization IREX, will host an orientation in Washington for the students Jan. 3-6, according to a State Department communique.

Launched in fall 2010, Global UGRAD-Pakistan is design to provide a “substantive exchange experience” at a U.S. college or university to emerging student leaders from underrepresented sectors in Pakistan, according to the communique. The goal of the program is to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of Pakistan.

Due to the security situation in Pakistan, the exchange program is limited to a “welcome program” for the Pakistani students as no American students are going to terror-infested Pakistan.

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