18th July, 2014
The United States Embassy in Abuja says 7,318 Nigerian students are studying in more than 700 universities and colleges in that country.
Jennifer Onyeukwu, Head, USA Education Advising Centre (EAC), said this in Abuja on Friday during the pre-departure ceremony for those leaving for studies in the US.
Onyeukwu said no fewer than 150 students were preparing to leave for studies in the US 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 US is 7,318 at undergraduate and graduate programmes.
“This fall, which is August 2014, we are sending more than a hundred students to study in the US, over 80 per cent had some form of scholarship or financial aid from schools in the US,” she explained.
The official also said there were 22 scholarships under US 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 US.