press releases
USAID, HEC Expand Fulbright Scholarship Program; Initiative Called “Investment In Pakistan’s Future”
04/06/2005Islamabad – The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and Pakistan’s Higher Education Commission (HEC) plan to provide up to $90 million over the next several years to the Fulbright Program in Pakistan, officials announced today.
The planned expansion will make Pakistan’s Fulbright Program among the world’s largest, said U.S. Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker, who announced the USAID contribution at a ceremony at his residence. The expanded program will enable 500-600 Pakistanis to pursue graduate studies in the U.S. The Fulbright Program, administered by the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs through the binational U.S. Educational Foundation in Pakistan (USEFP), is the U.S. Government’s flagship educational exchanges program. Students are awarded Fulbright scholarships on a competitive basis.
USAID is providing $15 million to the program this year and plans to provide the same amount for each of the next four years, for a total of $75 million. This will make the U.S. Government’s support for the Fulbright Program in Pakistan the largest for any Fulbright degree program in the world, the Ambassador said. The U.S. Congress must approve the planned commitment each year.
Federal Minister and HEC Chairman Prof. Dr. Atta-ur-Rahman announced that his commission will provide the program $15 million – or $3 million each year over five years. The Pakistani contributions, matching amounts provided by USAID, will begin in the 2006 academic year. These funds will provide scholarships for Pakistani students to study for PhDs in the United States. While master’s study typically requires up to two years, doctoral studies usually require three to four years. The master’s program will be called the Fulbright/USAID Fellowship; the doctoral program will be called the Fulbright/HEC/USAID Fellowship, pending approval by the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board.
“I am delighted at the development of a major program in the higher education sector which is going to be jointly funded by the Higher Education Commission and USAID in areas of relevance and need to Pakistan with special emphasis on engineering sciences as well as other cutting edge technologies,” said Federal Minister and HEC Chairman
Rahman. “The $30 million Fulbright doctoral program, with $15 million coming from Pakistan and $15 million from the United States, is hopefully the beginning of a long lasting cooperation between Pakistan and USA in the fields of higher education, science and technology.”
While part of it contributions will widen opportunities for PhD study, the majority of USAID’s contributions will fund scholarships for Pakistanis to acquire master’s degrees in two years at U.S. universities. “These students should then return to Pakistan to contribute to their country’s economic growth and development,” Ambassador Crocker said. “This USAID contribution, and our plan for similar contributions in the next four years, represents a major investment in Pakistan’s future. It’s also a great way to build mutual understanding and lasting personal and professional ties between Pakistanis and Americans.”
Ambassador Crocker congratulated HEC Chairman Rahman for his commitment to expand the Fulbright program and Pakistan Education Minister Javed Ashraf Qazi for his support as well. The Education Minister, with Ambassador Crocker, is the honorary co-chairman of the USEFP Board. He joined the Ambassador and HEC Chairman in speaking at the ceremony, organized by USEFP to announce the expanded Fulbright program.
USEFP, USAID, and HEC officials have been ironing out details of the expanded program, which begins this fall. USAID funds will enable 112 Pakistanis to begin studies then for master’s degrees at U.S. universities.
The announcement ceremony also featured a group of this year’s scholarship winners, including two who addressed the audience. Ms. Umber Shamim and Dr. Muhammad Imran voiced pleasure at winning the scholarships and expressed their desire to return to Pakistan and contribute to its future development.
Dr. Grace Clark, executive director of USEFP, noted the foundation is now accepting applications for scholarships for the 2006 academic year. Persons interested in applying and learning more about the Fulbright scholarship program should visit its website at www.usefpakistan.org
Fulbright Facts
The expanded Fulbright Scholarship program will enable 500-600 Pakistanis to pursue graduate study in the U.S. in the next several years. Some 1,465 Pakistanis have been awarded Fulbright scholarships since their inception in Pakistan in 1951.
The $15 million provided this year from USAID will enable 112 Pakistani students to study for master’s degrees at U.S. universities from 2005 to 2007.
The USAID-funded Fulbright stipend is a full scholarship. It pays for tuition, room and board, books, and travel to and from home at the beginning and end of the academic year.
Scholarship recipients sign agreement promising to return to Pakistan upon completion of their studies for at least two years. In some cases, USAID funds will pay for English language training in the U.S. to prepare students for study at the master’s level.
Gender breakdown of this year’s scholarship recipients: 81 men, 31 women.
Breakdown by place of residence: Lahore (40), Karachi (20), Islamabad (17), Quetta (8), Rawalpindi (8), Peshawar (6), Gilgit (2) and Faisalabad (2). Others represented include Swabi, Sialkot, Jamshoro, Hyderabad, Taxila, Gujranwala, Malakand, Mardan and Abbattaobad.
Pakistani universities with the most Fulbright scholarship recipients: Lahore University of Management Sciences (18); Quaid-i-Azam University (10); (Lahore) University of Engineering & Technology (9); University of Peshawar (6); University of Karachi (6); University of Punjab (5); University of Balochistan (5).
Scholarships by subject area include: Engineering, Technology, Computer & Natural Sciences (32); Government, Law, Human Rights (19); Public Administration/Public Policy (15); Economics & Finance (14); Language and Linguistics (7); Health (6); Education (6); Environment (4); Human Resource Management (4); Agriculture (2); Arts (2); Journalism (1).
The U.S. Educational Foundation in Pakistan (USEFP) is a binational commission that administers the Fulbright program in Pakistan. The honorary co-chairmen of the foundation are Federal Education Minister Javed Ashraf Qazi and U.S. Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker.