National Wire About Nigerians, Nigerian Business and Other Stories
Tayo Olanipekun
About 250 Nigerians pursuing higher education in the United States of America, in the third quarter of this year, have received scholarships from institutions in that country totaling over N1.4bn ($4m).
This includes a 12th grader who got a full ride scholarship to Harvard to study Political Science and six grantees going for their fully funded PhD programs in STEM fields.
U.S Consul General, John Bray, made this known in Lagos on Tuesday during the Pre-Departure Orientation for students going for study in the U.S, adding that the number of students from Nigeria enrolled in his country has been increasing in the last seven years with a 9.7 per cent increase in 2018.
Bray noted that there are currently 11,710 students from Nigeria studying in the United States, making the nation rank number one in the Sub-Saharan Africa and number 12 in the world as a sending country.
“To date, about 250 student-members of the Lagos Education USA Center studying at U.S. institutions in the fall of 2018, have received scholarships from U.S. institutions totaling over $4 million,” he said.
“One major reason for the increase of Nigerian students in the U.S. is the value that Nigerians place on a quality education,” added the Consul General, who also emphasized that accredited U.S. colleges and universities “provide a quality education.”
The Diplomat gave the breakdown of the 11,710 students from Nigeria in the United States to be 49.5 per cent undergraduate; 36.2 per cent graduate students; two per cent non-degree candidates, and 12.3 per cent Optional Practical Training.
He also identified Texas, with 1,540 students from Africa’s most populous nation, as their most preferred state and the Houston Community College, with 220 students, the most attended for students from Nigeria whom he noted attend about 800 institutions in each of the 50 U.S. states.
He, therefore, congratulated students, guided by the Education USA for their admission processes and provided with some form of financial assistance, on gaining admission to U.S. colleges and universities for both under-graduate and graduate studies.
Education USA is a U.S. Department of State network of over 425 international student advising centers in more than 175 countries that promotes U.S. higher education to students around the world by offering accurate, comprehensive, and current information about opportunities to study at one of the over 4,700 accredited postsecondary institutions in the United States.
