US universities seek more Qataris

DOHA: A large number of the international students enrolled in some universities in the United States are from the Gulf region, a university official from the US said.
Agnes Hoffman, an associate vice provost for enrolment, Management of Student Affairs, from the Portland State University, said their university alone, which is based in Oregon, has quite a large number of students from the region – more than 300 from Saudi Arabia, around 26 from the United Arab Emirates, a number from Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, Jordan and Bahrain. “… And we want to increase the number of our Qatari students,” she said.
Hoffman, one of the delegates of the Linden Educational Fair at the Doha Marriott Hotel, said she is very optimistic the number of interested students will double from last year.
“Last year, all the booths got a number of visits from a number of students with their parents, who were very much interested about the programmes available in each university, the tuition, the scholarship programmes, and requirements for admission, among others,” said Hoffman at a reception at the US Ambassador’s residence here.
Hoffman said there are a number of universities in the US that offer scholarships. She said at the Portland State University, they offer international students partial awards of $4,500 each year for the duration of their enrolment. “So if they are freshmen students, they would have renewable scholarships for four years, if they are graduate students, it would be for two years… We have international scholarships at all levels.”
She said the representatives of each school at the school fair will not only talk about enrolment costs, the programmes and the scholarships offered, but they will also shed light on the location of the campuses or the learning environment and whether the programmes are comprehensive or focused.
According to her, admission requirements of each school vary but most of them require SAT scores and letters of references. She said students can apply online and must have their official transcripts sent from their high school or universities and colleges they have attended.
At least 17 accredited American Universities will take part in the US University Fair today. The participating universities include: Bryant University, University of Denver, Portland State University, Florida Institute of Technology, Seattle University, Western Michigan University, University of Kentucky, Ohio Weslyan University, Loyola University Chicago and Rutgers, and the State University of New Jersey.
Hoffman said two universities from Oregon are participating: the Portland State University and a small private school. “We have 20,000 students, a large campus, and the other school … the University of Portland, a small private school of 3500 students…”
Hoffman said the University of Portland has good Sciences, Engineering, Business, Fine and Performing Arts majors