USEFP scholarships: Pakistan asks US to increase scale of programme

Islamabad on Wednesday urged Washington to increase the number of scholarships for Pakistani students and expand the scale of the United States Educational Foundation in Pakistan (USEFP) programme.

In his meeting with USEFP Executive Director Rita Bruun Akhter, Director General (Americas) Mudassir Tipu said that Pakistan is keen to strengthen and expand engagement with the USEFP to explore diverse and vibrant opportunities for Pakistani students who wish to study in the leading universities of the US.

He proposed that USEFP may explore increasing number of scholarships for Pakistani students as well as the scale of the programme.

The DG lauded USEFP for running the world’s largest Fulbright Scholarship programme in Pakistan. 

Rita Bruun Akhter said that “Fulbright” students represent the rich diversity of Pakistan, and strongly vouched for women, people with disabilities, and students from rural and underrepresented to be selected on a comprehensive merit basis.

She acknowledged the role of the Pakistani government, through the Higher Education Commission (HEC), which provides generous support to 25 Fulbright PhD scholars and the US matches this support. The 2022 Fulbright cohort included 189 scholars.

This year marks the 75th anniversary of Pak-US diplomatic relationship, and Fulbright Pakistan for over 70 years.

During the meeting, the duo shared ideas to further enhance the scope of cooperation through various exchange programs. They underscored that the US and Pakistan were proud of this long partnership in promoting higher education and the Fulbright programme was manifestation of this partnership with a lot more potential to tap into.