India Connect Programme Guwahati: US Consulate Highlights Academic Opportunities in US

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI, Sept 2: The US Consulate General in Kolkata in collaboration with the NGO Indo-American Center, Washington DC and Education USA/USIEF (United States India Education Foundation), hosted the US Universities Alumni: India Connect Program in the city on Saturday.

The daylong education information fair provided guidance on higher education opportunities in the US to prospective Indian students. The conference program underscored that studying at one of the 4,500 accredited US colleges and universities offers a world-class education, robust alumni communities, rewarding cross-cultural experiences, and a life-long engagement with the United States.

Inaugurating the fair at the Don Bosco Institute (DBI) here on Saturday, acting Public Affairs Officer of the US Consulate Jay Treloar said, “There is no sector that better illustrates the mutual benefit of our relationship better than education, a priority sector in both the US and India. Education has become one of the main pillars in our bilateral strategic partnership. We already have a very strong history of cooperation in higher education.”

The USIEF/EducationUSA advisor, US State Department alumni and experts from the Indo-American Center briefed the students about the benefits of studying in the U.S. The students met alumni of US universities and asked them questions about the American education system, admissions process, while also learning about USIEF and EducationUSA resources. The goal of the alumni fairs is to provide prospective students and their parents with firsthand information and advice from US State Department exchange program alumni, university student counselors, Education USA representatives, and the U.S. State Department officials.

Similar daylong fairs were held in Jamshedpur on August 30, Ranchi on August 25 and Shillong on August 31.

Treloar also highlighted that there are currently 186,000 Indian students studying in the United States, according to the Open Doors Report of 2017, the second highest number of foreign students. “The total number of Indian students in the United States has more than doubled over the last decade, from 81,000 in 2008 to 186,000 in 2017,” he noted. “USIEF and Education USA have played a major role in this achievement,” he said. “Education USA provides accurate, current, and comprehensive information on US higher education. Currently, there are seven Education USA centers spread across in India, which employ more than 30 education advisors. The Education USA office for East and Northeast India is located in the American Center in Kolkata.”