7,318 Nigerian students studying in U.S. – Official

The United States Embassy in Abuja says
7,318 Nigerian students are studying in more
than 700 universities and colleges in that
country.
Mrs Jennifer Onyeukwu, Head, EducationUSA
Advising Centre (EAC), said this in Abuja on
Friday during the pre-departure ceremony for
those leaving for studies in the U.S.
Onyeukwu said no fewer than 150 students
were preparing to leave for studies in the U.S
by August.
She added that 80 per cent of them were given
full or partial scholarships by the schools.
“The total, right now, of Nigerian students
studying in the U.S is 7,318 at undergraduate
and graduate programmes.
“This fall, which is Aug. 2014, we are sending
more than a hundred students to study in the
U.S., over 80 per cent had some form of
scholarship or financial aid from schools in
the U.S.”
The official also said there were 22
scholarships under U.S Achievers’ Programme,
“which recognises academically stellar
students who come from economically
disadvantaged backgrounds.
“We give them the opportunity to compete for
the few slots available.
“With the USAP programme, we help the
students identify U.S colleges and universities
that would offer them admission with full
funding.
“Fifteen of them have got admission with full
funding”, she said.
Onyeukwu added that six students out of
those given full scholarship funds had
scholarships from the MasterCard Foundation.
“MasterCard Scholarship is a separate kind of
scholarship that is given by the MasterCard
Foundation in partnership with U.S colleges
and some of the universities around the world.
“The six students under the MasterCard
Scholarship received 311,140 dollars annually
for four years.”
She said the foundation had earmarked 500
million dollars for “economically
disadvantaged young people” in sub-Sahara
Africa desiring to further their studies.
She said the scholarship was for a 10-year
period and targeted students with academic
talent, commitment to giving back and
leadership potentials.
Onyeukwu also said the EAC, the education
advisory arm of the embassy, sought to use its
platforms to appropriately advice Nigerian
students who desired to study in the U.S.
She added that the embassy and its consulate
in Lagos organised free orientation sessions in
their communities and outreaches in schools
and universities in the country to sensitise
students on available study opportunities.
A few students who were granted full
scholarships to the U.S spoke to the News
Agency of Nigeria (NAN).
Hannatu Sadiq, who participated in the USAP,
was one of the beneficiaries of the MasterCard
Scholarship.
“The ECA officials came to our school n 2010
and I picked the courage from there to work
hard and give them what they required and I
got into USAP in 2013.
“I’m on MasterCard Scholarship to Michigan
State University to study Chemical Engineering
and I’m grateful for this opportunity because
now my parents don’t have to pay anything
for my tertiary education.”
Also, Moses Onyeabor, another MasterCard
Scholarship beneficiary going to study
biochemistry, expressed his gratitude in an
interview with NAN.
“I got to know about the USAP while I was in
the School for the Gifted and I decided to give
it a try.
“I applied to seven schools and finally got
admission into three universities but Arizona
State University gave me a MasterCard
Scholarship which covers everything including
a living stipend.”
NAN gathered that Nigeria is the largest
sender of students to the U.S from sub-Sahara
Africa and students in 2013 received 2.9
million dollars’ worth of scholarship funds
from top notch institutions. (NAN)